Page:Poems by William Wordsworth (1815) Volume 1.djvu/377

317 Heirs from ages without record

Had the House of Lucie born,

Who of right had claim'd the Lordship

By the proof upon the Horn:

Each at the appointed hour

Tried the Horn,—it own'd his power;

He was acknowledged: and the blast,

Which good Sir Eustace sounded, was the last.

With his lance Sir Eustace pointed,

And to Hubert thus said he,

"What I speak this Horn shall witness

"For thy better memory.

"Hear, then, and neglect me not!

"At this time, and on this spot,

"The words are utter'd from my heart,

"As my last earnest prayer ere we depart.

"On good service we are going

"Life to risk by sea and land;

"In which course if Christ our Saviour

"Do my sinful soul demand,

"Hither come thou back straightway,

"Hubert, if alive that day;

"Return, and sound the Horn, that we

"May have a living House still left in thee!"