Page:Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier (1895).djvu/145

Rh And, hark! a train of horsemen, with sound of dog and horn, Come leaping o’er the ditches, come trampling down the corn!

Merrily rang the bridle-reins, and scarf and plume streamed gay, As fast beside her father’s gate the riders held their way; And one was brave in scarlet cloak, with golden spur on heel, And, as he checked his foaming steed, the maiden checked her wheel.

“All hail among thy roses, the fairest rose to me! For weary months in secret my heart has longed for thee!” What noble knight was this? What words for modest maiden’s ear? She dropped a lowly courtesy of bashfulness and fear.

She lifted up her spinning-wheel; she fain would seek the door, Trembling in every limb, her cheek with blushes crimsoned o’er. “Nay, fear me not,” the rider said, “I offer heart and hand, Bear witness these good Danish knights who round about me stand.

“I grant you time to think of this, to answer as you may, For to-morrow, little Elsie, shall bring another day.” He spake the old phrase slyly, as glancing round his train, He saw his merry followers seek to hide their smiles in vain.

“The snow of pearls I ’ll scatter in your curls of golden hair, I ’ll line with furs the velvet of the kirtle that you wear; All precious gems shall twine your neck; and in a chariot gay You shall ride, my little Elsie, behind four steeds of gray.

“And harps shall sound, and flutes shall play, and brazen lamps shall glow; On marble floors your feet shall weave the dances to and fro. At frosty eventide for us the blazing hearth shall shine, While at our ease we play at draughts, and drink the blood-red wine.”

Then Elsie raised her head and met her wooer face to face; A roguish smile shone in her eye and on her lip found place. Back from her low white forehead the curls of gold she threw, And lifted up her eyes to his, steady and clear and blue.

“I am a lowly peasant, and you a gallant knight; I will not trust a love that soon may cool and turn to slight. If you would wed me henceforth be a peasant, not a lord; I bid you hang upon the wall your tried and trusty sword.”

“To please you, Elsie, I will lay keen Dynadel away, And in its place will swing the scythe and mow your father’s hay.” “Nay, but your gallant scarlet cloak my eyes can never bear; A Vadmal coat, so plain and gray, is all that you must wear.”

“Well, Vadmal will I wear for you,” the rider gayly spoke, “And on the Lord’s high altar I ’ll lay my scarlet cloak.” “But mark,” she said, “no stately horse my peasant love must ride, A yoke of steers before the plough is all that he must guide.”

The knight looked down upon his steed: “Well, let him wander free: No other man must ride the horse that has been backed by me. Henceforth I ’ll tread the furrow and to my oxen talk, If only little Elsie beside my plough will walk.”

“You must take from out your cellar cask of wine and flask and can; The homely mead I brew you may serve a peasant-man.”