Page:Hermit of Warkworth.pdf/8

 PART SECOND.

smil’d the blushing morn,

And every storm was fled:

But lovelier far, with sweeter smile,

Fair Eleanor left her bed.

She found her Henry all alone,

And cheer’d him with her sight;

The youth consulting with his friend,

Had watch’d the livelong night.

What sweet surprise o’erpower’d her breast!

Her checks what blushes dy’d!

When fondly be besought her there

To yield to be his bride!

Within this lonely hermitage

There is a chapel meet:

Then grant, dear maid, my fond request,

And make my bliss complete.

O Henry! when thou deign’st to sue,

Can I thy suit withstand?

When thou, lov’d youth, hast won my heart,

Can I refuse my hand?

For thee I left a father’s smiles,

And mother’s tender care;

And whether weal or woe betide,

Thy lot I mean to share.

And wilt thou then, O generous maid!

Such matchless favour show,

To share with me, a banish’d wight,

My peril, pain, or woe?

Now Heaven, I trust, hath joys in store,

To crown thy constant breast;

For know, fond hope assures my heart

That we shall soon be blest.

Not far from hence stands Coquet Isle,

Surrounded by the sea, (5)

There dwells a holy friar, well known

To all thy friends and thee:

’Tis father Bernard, so revered

For every worthy deed,

To Raby Castle he shall go,

And for us kindly plead.

To fetch this good and holy man,

Our reverend host is gone