The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley Part 189

O! deep was her conscience dyed with guilt, _105 Remorse she full oft revealed, Her blood by the ruthless Black Canon was spilt, And in death her lips he sealed;

Her spirit to penance this night was doomed, 'Till the Canon atoned the deed, _110 Here together they now shall rest entombed, 'Till their bodies from dust are freed--

Hark! a loud peal of thunder shakes the roof, Round the altar bright lightnings play, Speechless with horror the Monks stand aloof, _115 And the storm dies sudden away--

The inscription was gone! a cross on the ground, And a rosary shone through the gloom, But never again was the Canon there found, Or the Ghost on the black marble tomb. _120

15. REVENGE.

'Ah! quit me not yet, for the wind whistles shrill, Its blast wanders mournfully over the hill, The thunder's wild voice rattles madly above, You will not then, cannot then, leave me my love.--'

I must dearest Agnes, the night is far gone-- _5 I must wander this evening to Strasburg alone, I must seek the drear tomb of my ancestors' bones, And must dig their remains from beneath the cold stones.

'For the spirit of Conrad there meets me this night, And we quit not the tomb 'till dawn of the light, _10 And Conrad's been dead just a month and a day!

So farewell dearest Agnes for I must away,--

'He bid me bring with me what most I held dear, Or a month from that time should I lie on my bier, And I'd sooner resign this false fluttering breath, _15 Than my Agnes should dread either danger or death,

'And I love you to madness my Agnes I love, My constant affection this night will I prove, This night will I go to the sepulchre's jaw Alone will I glut its all conquering maw'-- _20

'No! no loved Adolphus thy Agnes will share, In the tomb all the dangers that wait for you there, I fear not the spirit,--I fear not the grave, My dearest Adolphus I'd perish to save'--

'Nay seek not to say that thy love shall not go, _25 But spare me those ages of horror and woe, For I swear to thee here that I'll perish ere day, If you go unattended by Agnes away'--

The night it was bleak the fierce storm raged around, The lightning's blue fire-light flashed on the ground, _30 Strange forms seemed to flit,--and howl tidings of fate, As Agnes advanced to the sepulchre gate.--

The youth struck the portal,--the echoing sound Was fearfully rolled midst the tombstones around, The blue lightning gleamed o'er the dark chapel spire, _35 And tinged were the storm clouds with sulphurous fire.

Still they gazed on the tombstone where Conrad reclined, Yet they shrank at the cold chilling blast of the wind, When a strange silver brilliance pervaded the scene, And a figure advanced--tall in form--fierce in mien. _40

A mantle encircled his shadowy form, As light as a gossamer borne on the storm, Celestial terror sat throned in his gaze, Like the midnight pestiferous meteor's blaze.--

SPIRIT: Thy father, Adolphus! was false, false as h.e.l.l, _45 And Conrad has cause to remember it well, He ruined my Mother, despised me his son, I quitted the world ere my vengeance was done.

I was nearly expiring--'twas close of the day,-- A demon advanced to the bed where I lay, _50 He gave me the power from whence I was hurled, To return to revenge, to return to the world,--

Now Adolphus I'll seize thy best loved in my arms, I'll drag her to Hades all blooming in charms, On the black whirlwind's thundering pinion I'll ride, _55 And fierce yelling fiends shall exult o'er thy bride--

He spoke, and extending his ghastly arms wide, Majestic advanced with a swift noiseless stride, He clasped the fair Agnes--he raised her on high, And cleaving the roof sped his way to the sky-- _60

All was now silent,--and over the tomb, Thicker, deeper, was swiftly extended a gloom, Adolphus in horror sank down on the stone, And his fleeting soul fled with a harrowing groan.

DECEMBER, 1809.

16. GHASTA OR, THE AVENGING DEMON!!!

The idea of the following tale was taken from a few unconnected German Stanzas.--The princ.i.p.al Character is evidently the Wandering Jew, and although not mentioned by name, the burning Cross on his forehead undoubtedly alludes to that superst.i.tion, so prevalent in the part of Germany called the Black Forest, where this scene is supposed to lie.

Hark! the owlet flaps her wing, In the pathless dell beneath, Hark! night ravens loudly sing, Tidings of despair and death.--

Horror covers all the sky, _5 Clouds of darkness blot the moon, Prepare! for mortal thou must die, Prepare to yield thy soul up soon--

Fierce the tempest raves around, Fierce the volleyed lightnings fly, _10 Cras.h.i.+ng thunder shakes the ground, Fire and tumult fill the sky.--

Hark! the tolling village bell, Tells the hour of midnight come, Now can blast the powers of h.e.l.l, _15 Fiend-like goblins now can roam--

See! his crest all stained with rain, A warrior hastening speeds his way, He starts, looks round him, starts again, And sighs for the approach of day. _20

See! his frantic steed he reins, See! he lifts his hands on high, Implores a respite to his pains, From the powers of the sky.--

He seeks an Inn, for faint from toil, _25 Fatigue had bent his lofty form, To rest his wearied limbs awhile, Fatigued with wandering and the storm.

Slow the door is opened wide-- With trackless tread a stranger came, _30 His form Majestic, slow his stride, He sate, nor spake,--nor told his name--

Terror blanched the warrior's cheek, Cold sweat from his forehead ran, In vain his tongue essayed to speak,-- _35 At last the stranger thus began:

'Mortal! thou that saw'st the sprite, Tell me what I wish to know, Or come with me before 'tis light, Where cypress trees and mandrakes grow. _40

'Fierce the avenging Demon's ire, Fiercer than the wintry blast, Fiercer than the lightning's fire, When the hour of twilight's past'--

The warrior raised his sunken eye. _45 It met the stranger's sullen scowl, 'Mortal! Mortal! thou must die,'

In burning letters chilled his soul.

WARRIOR: Stranger! whoso'er you are, I feel impelled my tale to tell-- _50 Horrors stranger shalt thou hear, Horrors drear as those of h.e.l.l.

O'er my Castle silence reigned, Late the night and drear the hour, When on the terrace I observed, _55 A fleeting shadowy mist to lower.--

Light the cloud as summer fog, Which transient shuns the morning beam; Fleeting as the cloud on bog, That hangs or on the mountain stream.-- _60

Horror seized my shuddering brain, Horror dimmed my starting eye.

In vain I tried to speak,--In vain My limbs essayed the spot to fly--

At last the thin and shadowy form, _65 With noiseless, trackless footsteps came,-- Its light robe floated on the storm, Its head was bound with lambent flame.

In chilling voice drear as the breeze Which sweeps along th' autumnal ground, _70 Which wanders through the leafless trees, Or the mandrake's groan which floats around.

'Thou art mine and I am thine, 'Till the sinking of the world, I am thine and thou art mine, _75 'Till in ruin death is hurled--

'Strong the power and dire the fate, Which drags me from the depths of h.e.l.l, Breaks the tomb's eternal gate, Where fiendish shapes and dead men yell, _80

'Haply I might ne'er have shrank From flames that rack the guilty dead, Haply I might ne'er have sank On pleasure's flowery, th.o.r.n.y bed--

--'But stay! no more I dare disclose, _85 Of the tale I wish to tell, On Earth relentless were my woes, But fiercer are my pangs in h.e.l.l--