Page:The poetical works of Matthew Arnold, 1897.djvu/53

Rh Old, that duchess stern began it,

In gray age, with palsied hands;

But she died while it was building,

And the church unfinished stands,—

Stands as erst the builders left it,

When she sank into her grave;

Mountain greensward paves the chancel,

Harebells flower in the nave.

"In my castle all is sorrow,"

Said the Duchess Marguerite then:

"Guide me, some one, to the mountain;

We will build the church again."

Sandalled palmers, faring homeward,

Austrian knights from Syria came.

"Austrian wanderers bring, O warders!

Homage to your Austrian dame."

From the gate the warders answered,—

"Gone, O knights, is she you knew!

Dead our duke, and gone his duchess;

Seek her at the church of Brou."

Austrian knights and march-worn palmers

Climb the winding mountain-way;

Reach the valley, where the fabric

Rises higher day by day.

Stones are sawing, hammers ringing;

On the work the bright sun shines;

In the Savoy mountain-meadows,

By the stream, below the pines.