Page:Landon in Literary Gazette 1823.pdf/123

122 Literary Gazette 25th October 1823, Page 682

SKETCH.

The warrior went forth in the morning light,— Waved like a meteor his plume of white, Scarce might his gauntleted hand restrain The steed that snorted beneath the rein; Yet curbed he its pride, for upon him there Gazed the dark eye of his ladye fair. She stood on the tower to watch him ride,— The maiden whose hand on his bosom had tied The scarf she had worked,—she saw him depart With a tearless eye, though a beating heart; But when the knight of her love was gone, She went to her bower to weep alone. The warrior past,—but first he took At the castle-wall one parting look, And thought of the evening when he should bring His ladye his battle offering; Then like a thought he dashed o'er the plain, And with banner and brand came his vassal train. It was a thrilling sound to hear The bugle's welcome of warlike cheer; It was a thrilling sight to see The ranks of that gallant company: Many were there stately and tall, But Edith's knight was the first of all.— —The day is past, and the moonbeams weep O'er the many that rest in their last cold sleep; Near to the gashed and the nerveless hand Is the pointless spear and the broken brand; The archer lies like an arrow spent, His shafts all loose and his bow unbent; Many a white plume torn and red, Bright curls rent from the graceful head, Helmet and breast-plate scattered around, Lie a fearful show on the well-fought ground;