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 University of California • Berkeley 
 
 Gift of 
 Mr. & Mrs. Norman H. Strouse 
 
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ODO, 
 
 COUNT OF LINGEN. 
 
 A POETICAL TALE : 
 
 IN SIX CANTOS. 
 
 BY 
 
 Sir EGEllTON BRYDGES , Bar.^ , B. C. de S. etc. etc. 
 
 GENEVA, 
 
 Printed by W. F I C K. 
 MDCCCXXIV. 
 
 ( 50 Copies only, ) 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 X HIS Poem is founded on two historical In- 
 cidents , which will be related in a Note. It is 
 written in rhymes irregularly disposed , like 
 those of Milton's Lycidas. The advantage pro- 
 posed by the adoption of this metre is the 
 freedom of blank verse , modified by some small 
 degree of the restraint formed by rhyme. The 
 most perfect specimen of English versification 
 in couplets is Dryden's Volume of Fables. But 
 even Dr) den cannot avoid monotony from this 
 measure , when it is applied to a long Narra- 
 tive : the monotony of Pope , with all his melli- 
 fluence , and all his merits, is admitted. Spenser, 
 following the Italians, has adopted the division 
 of Stanzas : — but there is one fundamental 
 defect in this division, when applied to Narrative 
 Poems ; — that it is too lyrical ! 
 
 In the last Century, English Poetry had sunk 
 too much into the pursuit of mere technical 
 
TI PREFACE. 
 
 merits: in the present, it has gone too far into 
 the contrary extreme ; and set all rules and all 
 controul at defiance. The old principle is un- 
 doubtedly just : 
 
 « — Ubi plura nitent in carmine^ non ego paucis 
 OJfendar inaculis : » 
 
 Correctness can never make amends for dul- 
 ness: — but still there must be some polish; 
 some restraint ; some regard to propriety of 
 thought , and elegance of style. 
 
 Looking to the theories of secondary authors , 
 of various ages and countries ; and to the ephe- 
 meral and perpetually-changing taste of the Mul- 
 tituae , at all times and places ; we might be led 
 to suppose that there are no fixed characteristics 
 of true poetry : but the mirror of true poetry is to 
 be found in the heart of Man; and in the quali- 
 ties of his intellectual existence. And of all Poe- 
 try 5 that which is ISarratwe is the most natural ; 
 unless it be Song , which shares with it this merit. 
 
 The most native and the noblest exercise of a 
 poetic imagination, is to invent characters, infuse 
 sentiment, associate imagery, and realize them 
 
PREFACE. VII 
 
 in action by a series of probable and interesting 
 incidents. Abstract sentiment may be beautiful 
 and just ; but it never can affect with the same 
 force, as when it is put into hfe in a well-wrought 
 fable. Didactic poetry therefore is always of a 
 lower class , and of inferior power. 
 
 The test of excellence in the execution lies 
 in combining originality grandeur pathos beauty 
 and truth of thought , with vigour of language. 
 If the highest degree of finish ; if terseness 
 of style , and perfect arrangement of words , 
 can be added to these , it will still augment 
 the merit : but this mastery of the work- 
 manship must always be subordinate to the 
 value of the ore. A high degree of fiUagree-work, 
 employed on a material of little intrinsic worth , 
 will only be preferred by feeble amateurs. 
 
 To excite a generous sympathy in the bosoms 
 of readers by pictures of exalted and eloquent 
 Virtue struggling gloriously with Injustice or 
 Misfortune, is to draw forth the seeds of the best 
 qualities of the human heart. There is indeed a 
 sort of impossible virtue , which impresses no be- 
 
VIII PREFACE. 
 
 lief; and therefore awakens no emotion. Thus 
 when Imagination throws the reflection of its own 
 glowing colours on Reality , it must still follow 
 the tints of Nature. An unmingled picture 
 ( — and how much worse an exaggerated pic- 
 ture — ) of the frailties of our human existence 
 hardens the heart ; and paralyses effort by despair. 
 And then — as to unmingled satire and raillery 
 • — and unmingled ridicule ; — if man be alv/a) s 
 wicked or ridiculous , what is there to laugh at ? 
 and if he be not, how can the malice be justified 
 which would make him appear so ? 
 
 1 3 Feb. 1824. 
 
 N. B. The Argument of the Poem , and the Note , to 
 which the Reader is requested to turn , will be found at 
 the End. 
 
 "-♦♦♦^ 
 
D , 
 
 COUNT OF LINGEN: 
 A POETICAL TALE. 
 
 CANTO I. 
 
 X ive hundred years , and more , have passed away , 
 Since in yon low-fall'n city held his reign 
 A Prince , who well becomes the Muse*s strain. 
 A rude but \aliant people own'd his sway ; 
 Kor other Court , on that heroic day , 
 Beauty could shew , so form'd the heart to gain. 
 Amid the tribes , the Prince around him drew , 
 One friend above the rest his bosom knew: 
 A man of brilliant intellect and form; 
 One , whom ambition would to rashness warm : lo 
 
 Who gloried most to battle with the storm. 
 Odo, the Count of Lingen , was his name: 
 A lineage old , not wealthy , he could claim : 
 And now he hoped to gild an ancient race ; 
 
 I 
 
a ODo. 
 
 And add lo all the shadowy rights, that trace 
 
 Their source to founts no common eyes can find, 
 
 The gold and rank -which win a vulgar mind. 
 
 He loyed , alas , the coarse applause assign'd 
 
 To vulgar greatness by the noisy crowd 
 
 Of flattering multitudes ; and when the loud 20 
 
 Shout rent the skies , and round about his car , 
 
 Before , behind , the clamourous numbers pressed , 
 
 His big heart swell'd « And thusw he cried, » my star! 
 
 »Thus shine for ever ! Fortune at my feet 
 
 )>Crouches her potent wand ! » — And then he bless'd 
 
 His fate , and murmur'd : « my ambition's sweet ! 
 
 »It has no falls ; it has no clouds ; and round 
 
 My temples an unfading wreath is bound ! » 
 
 The Prince with gladness saw his favourite's fame 
 And wealth increase ; while still affairs of state 3o 
 
 Own'd his relieving hand j and drew the weight 
 On shoulders not his own ; ' — For who can blame 
 The love of ease , that fondly flies the thorns 
 Of wily politics ; and loves to sport 
 On perfumed beds- of flowers, and gently scorns 
 The moil of man's conflicting wants ? In Courts 
 Tis still the same : The Minister must bear 
 The price of honours ; — labour , danger , care ! 
 
 In truth the Prince had reason good to fly 
 All vulgar joys ; and in oblivion sweet 4o 
 
 All vulgar cares to lose : his raptured eye 
 
CANTO I. : 
 
 A form before it saw , whose beauteous mien 
 
 Could make the heart of Anchorite to beat ; 
 
 The loveliest Dame , in halls of Princes seen ; 
 
 Charm of all gazers , of each heart the Queen ! 
 
 And him this Star of brightness bless'd ; his hand , 
 
 To her betroth'd , the faithful pledge of love 
 
 On her white finger had imposed ; and She 
 
 Bow'd with soft chearfulne#s to his command; 
 
 With downcast looks her duty sought to prove; 5o 
 
 Breathed out her soul in every tender sigh ; 
 
 And hail'd the day , that tied the band , with extasy ! 
 
 Odo , well pleased to see his master's mind , 
 Caught in the net of love , cast off the rein 
 Of State to him with trust unchecked and blind , 
 Sought not the wildering rapture to restrain ; 
 But yielded up with spirit unreprest 
 To her , who ruled it , his fond Sovereign's breast. 
 
 Bertha, in turn with gracious eyes beheld 
 The Servant , by whose toils her Lord possess'd 60 
 
 Leisure , content and freedom ! She repell'd 
 With gentle disbelief the tale , that dress'd 
 In hues of dark design his active zeal : 
 «Tis for himself , w the busy whispers said , 
 «Tis for himself his ceaseless labours steal 
 ySlumber from night ; and waste his vigorous frame. 
 »The glory will be his : for him will spread 
 »The feast ! for him the shouts of mobs exclaim ! 
 
4 ODO. ^ 
 
 »And wlien his power is link'd , and when the hold 
 
 »Of his dominion has its fixture due , 70 
 
 »0 then will that dissembling eye be bold 
 
 wWith unveil'd insolence; and the mean crew 
 
 »0f mercenary multitudes , that cling 
 
 »To his proud heels , their caps in air will fling ; 
 
 »And hail with brawls Count Odo for their King ! » 
 
 Sweet Bertha heard with disbelief; but deep 
 And long she pondered , what her heart forbade 
 To entertain with credence : in her sleep 
 Oft would the thought return , and make her sad : 
 But yet , as reason ruled , her generous breast 80 
 
 Suspicion of a guilt so base represt. 
 Count Odo, dress'd in smiles, with lofty air, 
 Self-confident , and happy , as the course 
 Of courtly forms required , from day to day 
 Still met the lovely Princess : nor would spare 
 Th'obeisance that became his rank to pay : 
 To his proud spirit it was still no force; 
 He look'd upon her lovely face ; and there 
 He saw a charm that monarchs might obey. 
 But while he worship'd, thoughts would sometimes stray; 90 
 And from his trembling eye there shot a beam , 
 That guileless Bertha knew not how to deem ; 
 If it were doubt or awe, or th 'insult it would seem! 
 
 Days pass'd ; and months as quick ; and twice the race 
 Of the revolving Sun with rapid pace 
 
CANTO I. 
 
 Had ended : yet the rays of Bertha glowed 
 
 With warmth increasing in her Monarch's sight ; 
 
 Goodness had lustre on her charms bestowed; 
 
 And as her form was fair , her soul was bright. 
 
 From her loved lips wisdom and sweetness flow'd ; 
 
 And the Prince listen'd as to one divine. 
 
 Led by her counsel ; by her eloquence 
 
 Enraptured ; *twas his glory to resign 
 
 His thoughts to hers ; and as a fountain pure 
 
 Of virtue and of wisdom blended, thence 
 
 Love as of inspiration to dispense. 
 
 Odo , halfcharm'd, half wondering , sometimes caught 
 
 The tones that with such high dominion rul'd 
 
 His master's soul ; they seem'd so sweetly fraught 
 
 With unassuming peace; so little school'd 
 
 In the world's turmoils ; so in love with calm 
 
 Of trees , and murmuring rills , and song of birds , 
 
 And all of nature's incense ; lowing herds ; 
 
 And bleat of flocks , and echo from the woods , 
 
 And groan of winds , and fall of roaring floods ; 
 
 And utter'd such persuasion of the balm 
 
 Of joys like these, for whom the' assaults of life 
 
 Have wounded in its rude relentless strife , 
 
 That he was safe , while from a draught so pure 
 
 His Master drew delirium, for it taught 
 
 That bold Ambition ills and curses wrought; 
 
 And if she held her dreaming Lord in lure 
 
6 ODO. 
 
 Twas but to make his love of quiet sure. 
 
 But with Count Odo , e'en as v^ith the Queen, 
 The gossip Fame her meddling schemes ^w ould plot : 
 The fiend declared, it ne'er was woman's lot 
 To hold the potent wand her charms had gain'd ; 
 Yet spare to let it to the w orld be seen ! » 
 
 « The day will come » with many a nod and smile 
 And sly grimace, the medler said , « iho' slow, i3q 
 
 «The day will come , however deep the guile , 
 wWhen all the wanted swing of rule attain/d , 
 «Odo the force of Bertha's hand shall know. » 
 
 The Count attenti\^e heard the sad presage ; 
 And oft he turn'd it in his thought profound : 
 Well did he con the tale of every age; 
 And all he con'd mature reflection crown'd. 
 «I must not lightly list this gossip's tongue : 
 wWhat wisdom thinks , the gossip oft has sung. 
 wDivided empire women will not bear: i4o 
 
 »When Pleasure tires , they take the task of Care. » 
 Thus to himself the Count in sorrow spoke : 
 Oft on his lips the quivering murmur moved ; 
 And oft tlie deep sigh from his bosom broke : 
 The heaving mask , upon his face he bore , 
 The storm that beat beneath it often proved : 
 But smiles at court and gladsome gests he wore ; 
 And still to Bertha dress'd his looks in awe , 
 And admiration by respect subdued ; 
 
CA]>rro I. 7 
 
 And seem'd , as if he in her beauty saw i5o 
 
 One whom from love Ambition could not draw : 
 One who believed the paths of Peace were strew'd 
 Alone with flowers of happiness and good! 
 
 Bertha beheld beneath the painful guise 
 Some secret movements lurking in his eye : 
 Cross its bright beam a passing vapour flies ; 
 Under its laugh of joy is treachery! 
 
 The Prince with looks of favour still survey *d 
 The friend , whose zealous labours left him free 
 To live with Bertha in retirement's shade; i6o 
 
 The tangles of her lovely hair to braid ; 
 Calmly to sleep beneath th'umbragious tree ; 
 And taste from nature's charms the true felicity. 
 
 « Bertha , » he cried , « was ever Prince so blest , 
 wAs is the lot thy grateful husband shares ? 
 ))Thy tender eyes , thy tuneful voice attest , 
 »My happy look no false appearance wears! 
 »Lock'd in thine arms , I lose all anxious cares ; 
 »While Odo takes the task my taste foregoes ; 
 »And friendship crowns the joys, that love bestows !» i-^o 
 
 «My gracious Lord ! » said Bertha , « I can ill 
 »Repay the goodness , that must ever fill 
 »My mind with gratitude, respect , and love J 
 wExults my bosom , if my Lord approve 
 »My humble form : and if the Httle worth , 
 »)And slender gifts that Nature on my birth 
 
8 ODO. 
 
 ))Has lotted , can content thy generous heart ; 
 
 wWhat T. armtli of language can my joy impart? 
 
 )>But , O my Lord and Sovereign , do not deem 
 
 wThy Bertha too presumptuous , if she seem i8o 
 
 j^For once to touch on ground beyond her sphere : 
 
 «I would not damp the happiness , whose rays 
 
 vWith light unclouded to thine eyes appear ; 
 
 »Nor chill with mean ungenerous fears the praise 
 
 ))That unsuspecting Virtue burns to raise 
 
 )>To deeds of fair import : but , O my Sire , 
 
 wTho' Bertha's love be true; (for, if the fire, 
 
 »That beams in yonder stars , be true , the flame 
 
 wThat burns in Bertha's bosom is the same , ) 
 
 »Yet Odo's friendship calls the searching eye. IQ** 
 
 »Is my Lord sure , that in his zeal there glows 
 
 »No selfish ardor ? in his cares and toils 
 
 v'No schemes of treacherous grandeur interpose ? 
 
 «]N[o dark plot broods beneath his glosing smiles ? » 
 
 A deathlike chill arrests the Prince's heart ; 
 Through all his veins wild trembling horrors dart. 
 «My Bertha , is it thus ? Hast thou a cause , 
 wFrom w hence thy thought this sad suspicion draws ? » 
 At length he cried with mournful tone : « My Lord » 
 She answer'd mildly, « it uould ill accord ^^^ 
 
 «With the strict duty that I owe , to say , 
 »I have a cause for thoughts I thus betray! 
 »I have no proper cause : they are the shades j 
 
CANTO I. 9 
 
 »The Avild surmises that distress my brain : 
 
 wl would dismiss them ; but each dream upbraids 
 
 »My long-kept silence : they return again ; 
 
 »And bring grief ^ ^vailings , murder in their train ! » 
 
 She ceased ; but drop'd a tear : and as her voice 
 Died on her lips , the Prince with soft caress 
 Chear'd her despondent spirit. « Raise thy soul, 210 
 
 j^Bertha , beyond these Phantoms , that rejoice 
 »Fiend-like to trouble human happiness ; 
 »And when the tides of rapture highest roll , 
 wThen most with their infernal fangs to press ! » 
 Her eye look'd gently thro' the vapoury cloud, 
 That veil'd its brightness ; and she strove to raise 
 The Hope, that beamily through darkness plays. 
 But yet terrific visions would enshroud 
 The struggling rays of chearfulness , — « O hear ! 
 j)Bertha ; the voice of Nature cries ! thine ear 220 
 
 »Is tuned to joy: come, listen to the grove, 
 »Where all is peace , and purity , and love. 
 ))Dream no more dreams of sadness ! Virtue dwells 
 »Safe from th' assaults of mad Ambition's wiles : 
 )>Around her sacred haunts she casts her spells ; 
 ))Nor fears Intrigue's designs , or Treason's smiles. » 
 
 « If prayers , my Lord ; » said Bertha : « if the glow 
 »0f heart devote and grateful can bestow 
 ^Security , my Sovereign is secure ! 
 »Long as his virtuous wishes , shall endure 280 
 
lO ODO. 
 
 »The happiness he merits : but beware 1 
 »My Sovereign , O beware : with piercing eye 
 »The secrets of thine Odo's bosom try : 
 » Virtue, that never asks the test to spare, 
 v)The mirror to its inmost thoughts can claim ; 
 »Arid come forth purer from the searching flame ! » 
 
 She spake: and then with downcast eyes withdrew j 
 But first ask'd pardon for her frank discourse ; 
 The Prince in sadness to his closet flew ; 
 There strove each word and accent to renew ; 3l4o 
 
 And give to each dark hint its native force. 
 uWhat means this stain on Odo's faith ? » «he cried: 
 <(Have baseless dreams alone the thought supplied ? 
 »Ah no! my Bertha ! thy sagacious mind 
 )>Was ne'er to faith of baseless dreams inclined ! 
 »Illumined soul ! Effluence of all that's wise ! 
 «No phantoms false delude thy searching eyes — 
 »There must be truth in what thy lips proclaim ! 
 ^Delusion never from that bosom came ! 
 »Yet pause my fear ! if most I owe to Love , aSo 
 
 »Still Friendship also must my firmness p. ove. 
 »Odo, the friend of years , my youth's compeer, 
 »True in the field , when death was raging round , 
 »And ever faithful mid the faithless found , 
 ^Shield of my fife against the rebel spear , 
 DClad by my favours , lifted by my hand , 
 wAll power he asks, and more at his command — 
 
CANTO I. II 
 
 »Is Odo faithless ? he , by whom I'm woo'd 
 
 i>With seeming tears of boundless gratitude ? 
 
 »Then life's a lying dream : and Virtue's boast 260 
 
 uA phantom , soon in baseless "visions lost ! w 
 
 END OF CANTO I. 
 
1 2 ODO. 
 
 CANTO IL 
 
 VV HEN next the Count before the Prince appear'd , 
 The Sovereign bent his searching eye ; and saw 
 The hght smile twinkle still ; and yet he heard 
 The soft tone of a mind that murmur'd joy. 
 «My gracious King » he said , « whose wish is law , 
 »Whose happiness is my unlired employ ; 
 5>Is aught of pleasure wanting to the day ? 
 »Can aught be wanting to the Lord , whose bliss 
 »Berlha , in virtue as in form supreme , 270 
 
 ^Guards by her care, and crowns by her caress? 
 »Wide through all Europe let the Enquirer stray; 
 »Bertha's angelic graces are the theme ! » 
 
 «Yes — Odo — yes — in Bertha's beauty reigns 
 wEach fascinating charm the Poet feigns. 
 » — But beauty, — Odo ! » — and he look'd with brow 
 Somewhat intent, as if to search his soul: '^ 
 «Beauty is fading ; ^tis the mind's controul , 
 )>To which the hearts and heads of Princes bow ! » 
 »In Bertha's wisdom lies tlie wondrous spell , 280 
 
 wThat holds dominion o'er thy Sovereign's love. » — 
 
 He ceased ; and Odo smiled ; but in the cell 
 Of his dark bosom vapours seem'd to move. 
 
CANTO II. 1 3 
 
 My Sovereign , in whom all my hopes are bound ; 
 
 »0f my affections , as my duty , Lord ! 
 
 »It glads my soul that thy desert is crown'd 
 
 »With gift of female virtues , that accord 
 
 «With those that in my vSovereign*s bosom shine : 
 
 »And faith and love , as Bertha's lot , be thine ! 
 
 »There is in -woman > when her beauteous form 290 
 
 wThe rays of an angelic spirit warm , 
 
 »A charm of goodness. Evil dare not try ! 
 
 »They flash ; and Fiends of Darkness trembling fly ! 
 
 »When the flame's false alone ; w^hen beams of light 
 
 »Raised by lewd love are mischievously bright, 
 
 »Those Fiends beneath the frigtful lustre play, 
 
 »And bask luxuriant in delusive day I » — 
 
 « Wisdom » the Prince replied , « is ever rife 
 ))0n Odo's lips : and eloquence distills 
 wFrom his persuasive tongue ; my soul it fills 3oo 
 
 »With glow ineffable , ^\hen she , my life , 
 »My joy, the spring-tide of my earthly bliss, 
 )>Is Odo's praise : ^^ hat praise can be like his ? » 
 
 Thus Princes list the soothing tones, that melt 
 Upon their ears ; and thus the Mage supplies 
 The grateful sounds his cunning art has spelt 
 Play best upon their heart-strings ! Who denies 
 That Courtiers are magicians , and can wield 
 Wands that make Monarchs to their magic yield. 
 And where is Bertha? Lo ! the Prince's eyes 3io 
 
l4 ODO* 
 
 Demand the radiant beauty of her inien : 
 
 With graceful step let lovely Bertha now, 
 
 The smile of tenderness upon her brow, 
 
 In all the glory of her charms be seen! 
 
 She comes. « Supreme in beauty, goodness, soul, 
 
 »And heart, v\hat fiery tides of rapture roll 
 
 )>Their torrents thro' my bosom , as I view 
 
 »My Bertha's angel form approach my sight ! 
 
 »Immingled like the rainbow's changing hue, 
 
 wAll charms play round thee in successive light ! » 3 20 
 
 ' — « My Lord , my Sovereign ! » in a tender voice 
 
 Cried Bertha : « spare my blushes : I rejoice 
 
 wBeyond what words can tell , that it is mine 
 
 ))To have the bliss of love so pure as thine ! 
 
 )>But we are mortals , and we must submit 
 
 «To the decree that human kind is born 
 
 »]Vot to unmixed bliss on earth : I mourn 
 
 wTo cast a transient shadow that may flit 
 
 wAcross this radiant vision of my fate : — 
 
 ))But I am conscious of my earthly stale ; 33 o 
 
 )>And Sovereigns , like your virtuous self, must know ; 
 
 »For man , as there is joy , there must be woe ! » 
 
 Quick changed the Monarch's face : the look that beam'd 
 With raptiii e , turn'd to sable thoughtfulness : 
 In such rejection of his joy there seem'd 
 A secret , that the boldest might oppress ! 
 Bertha, whose watchful cares incessant strove 
 
CANTO II. r5 
 
 The wishes of her honour'd Lord to learn, 
 
 Trembled , when she beheld the aspect stern 
 
 Of him , whose eyes an instant past beam'd love : 34o 
 
 «My Lord , » in tears she murmur'd , « if in aught 
 
 »Thy Bertha has offended , O forgive 
 
 »Her weakness ; for thy Bertha not in thought 
 
 »Has err'd : nor can her faithful bosom live 
 
 ^Beneath thy frowns : it was the fear to lose 
 
 »A bhss too high for earth, that cast its hues 
 
 »0f black upon the vision, where the blaze 
 
 »Had beam'd to other eyes unblemish*d rays. » 
 
 «Enough , my Bertha ; or in joy of heart, 
 »Or in the tender notes of thoughtful care, 35o 
 
 »Thy looks and words a charm to me impart, 
 «Bertha's angelic face alone can wear; 
 »And only Bertha's tuneful lips can breathe : 
 )>Go ; from the meads a verdant chaplet wreathe ; 
 »And we will live unfading flowers beneath ! » 
 
 Bertha was calm'd : « I go , my Lord » she cried : 
 «How sweet the task , in midst of nature's pride , 
 »To crop the treasures , that her bounty throws 
 wFrom the green earth — the violet, and the rose ; 
 ))A11 the young spring's first birth, whose fragrance sends^ 350 
 wBorne upward floating on the wings of air, 
 «Sweet streams of incense , that their offering bear 
 ))To their Creator: while my heart attends 
 »Tbe mute devotion; and its accents lends 
 »To hymn the note of gratitude and prayer I » 
 
l6 ODO* 
 
 All in the Court went smoothly ; Odo's hand 
 Guided affairs of State uncheck'd : within 
 The palace-bowers Beauty and Sweetness fann'd 
 The flame of Love ; while yet Ambition's din 
 No schemes to trouble Odo's empire plann'd. ^70 
 
 But Power is ever jealous : in the breast 
 Deep lie the gnawing fears; there is no rest, 
 When the eye frowns ; or when the passing cloud 
 Seems for a moment favour to enshroud. 
 Sly malice; green-eyed Envy, ply their trade; 
 And boil the cauldron, of all mischief made: 
 «Is Bertha then thy friend ? » the glosing tongue , 
 As if the words of friendship on it hung, 
 Exclaims, «I heard a whisper, Odo , say, 
 MHirn , we most praise , we most devote to fall; 3 80 
 
 Hi And him, we vow to death , a friend we call I 
 ))If Bertha smiles then, is it to betray?)) 
 «It cannot be ! )) cried Odo , as in ire ; 
 But to his heart deep sunk the subtle fire. 
 
 A year of tranquil happiness had past : 
 Bertha was superstitious; in her joy 
 Many a lone hour was given to fearful thought : 
 Her bosom whisper'd , « O that I could cast 
 «Far to the winds forebodings, that employ 
 »This mind , of woe and melancholy wrought ! 890 
 
 »There is a calm , that comes before the storm ; 
 »When all is stillest , then I dream , the last 
 
CANTO II. 17 
 
 wOf this unequal'd bliss I feel , is near. » 
 So came cold tremors o'er her melting form ; 
 And down her cheek descended the big tear, 
 And paled the roses of her beauteous face ; 
 And left the hue of sorrow in their place. 
 
 If Bertha's Lord was great in birth, and power, 
 Not less renown'd was Bertha's natal hour. 
 Her brother from his Sires a realm possest , l^oo 
 
 "Whose strength and splendor Glory's rolls attest. 
 Rumour soon brought the tidings to his ear, 
 That Bertha's cheek betray'd the frequent tear. 
 He wonder'd what a heart so good could ail. 
 "With all besides that could to bliss avail ; 
 And grieved by fits ; by fits repell'd the tale. 
 Odo , no less , at Bertha's alter'd eye 
 Look'd with suspicious wondering treachery. 
 Why gathering in that bosom's inmost shrine 
 Lies the deep sigh? Why with deep musings pine 410 
 Those eyes once beaming with unmlngled love ? 
 Does the skill'd mariner neglect the sign , 
 That gathers in the sky ? He looks above ; 
 And in a speck the brooding tempest sees ; 
 Shall I , less skill'd , refuse the mark to seize ; 
 And when I safe may sail before the breeze 
 Into the port , blindly remain behind ; 
 And perish , for my folly , in the wind ? 
 «Those looks of sadness do but ill accord 
 
 2 
 
l8 OBO* 
 
 «Wilh Bertha's wonted love ! » exclalm'd her Lord. 1^20 
 
 «Has aught of discord touch'd those tender strings 
 
 ))0f harmony ? or from what sources springs 
 
 wThat cloud , thy smiles can break by fits alone ? 
 
 wSits not thy monarch on his former throne ? 
 
 wis thy heart changed ? Or can its flame decay ; 
 
 »Or turn aside the beamings of its ray ? v 
 
 «My Lord, once just, once generous ! » thus replied 
 The astonish'd Princess , « I could have defied 
 ))The shaft of sharp reproach from other lips ! 
 »I scarce believe my trembling ears , from thee 43 o 
 
 vWhen come the deadly accents ! not to me 
 "Belongs the dart , that every blessing strips 
 »From tlie sad soul , at which its point is aim'd ! — 
 ))My soul , instructed by some voice divine , 
 wBow'd to its presages ; and I am blamed ! 
 wBut witness is that dart unkind of thine , 
 )>I did not err; I listen'd to the truth: 
 »And now the woe is come that it foretold. 
 ))0 do not speak in anger but in ruth ! 
 ))With what hard armoury could I be bold 44© 
 
 wAgainst such warnings , that my soul o'erawed ? 
 )>The sun is smiling round thee ; but abroad, » 
 It said «a distant tempest in its cave 
 wWorks, whose forth-rushing and o'er-whelming wave 
 win vain shall all thy strengh essay to brave ! 
 wit comes : that voice of thine the tempest is : 
 
CA]?fTO II. ig 
 
 ))Thus is my fate fulfiJl'd : thus ends my bliss ! » 
 Thus spake she ; and then fainted ; on her brow 
 
 Death seem'd his hideous palhdness to throw; 
 
 Lifeless each limb ; no pulse appear'd to flow. 4^0 
 
 The Prince alarmM , from mid the' attending crew 
 
 Caird aid , that quickly to his summons flew ; 
 
 And Bertha , slow reviving , tremulous said 
 
 Thro' tears of joy, «the bliss of love renew'd 
 
 «Pays for the pain of dreading love decay'd ! 
 
 wMy Lord , the ruler of my soul , no more 
 
 »0n fancied evils shall my bosom brood : 
 
 wits trusting calm affection shall restore , 
 
 »And list alone to Hope's enchanting lore ! » 
 
 When our undoubting lips first touch the cup , 4^0 
 
 That Love with his celestial beverage fills , 
 
 From the full brim no crossing tremor spills 
 
 An atom of the draught ; we drink it up : 
 
 Pure from the base transparently distills 
 
 The liquid inspiration : but , in hour 
 
 Of omen ill, if once the shaking hand 
 
 Disturb the heavenly nectar ; then no more 
 
 Can Faith return 'd its purity restore ; 
 
 Nor fears renew'd the steady nerve withstand ! 
 
 Now fits of love , and fits of doubt again 4?^ 
 
 Came like the varyings of an April day: 
 
 Bertha would sigh ; and Albert ^^ ould complain: 
 
 Bertha protested ; and her Lord was gay. 
 
^O ODQ. 
 
 Odo , whose eyes and ears were ne'er at rest , 
 Knew all that past , and nursed it in his breast. 
 «Th' occasion good ; the spring « he cried « is set ; 
 »And wide and sure is spread the' unsparing net. » 
 
 The moody humour of the Prince's mind 
 Grew with each month more thoughtful and unkind. 
 Bertha grew paler , as the falling tear A^o 
 
 Wash'd every trace of pleasure from her cheek : 
 And ere the close of a revolving year , . 
 
 Hope fled , in other breasts her home to seek. 
 « She spurns my love ! » said Albert : «how she broods 
 »On other joys and other thoughts than mine ! 
 ))Some absent wretch upon her soul intrudes; 
 »And prompts her for forbidden bliss to pine ! 
 »0 what is woman , but deceit and wrong ? 
 »The love she can command , she holds in scorn : 
 ^Proscribe th'indulgence, and her passion's strong ; 49^ 
 »And whom the loveliest charms of form adorn , 
 )>To her does most the evil heart belong ! » 
 
 Earl Raymond heard with grief , that tore his breast , 
 Tbe sorrow that fair Bertha's fate opprest : — > 
 Bertha , a sister who his infant years 
 Had shared in sweet affection ; w^hom in tears 
 He saw transplanted to another soil ; 
 Yet hoped that in a generous Prince's care 
 No blasts of rudeness or of ire would dare 
 The pure flowers of her happy heart despoil ! 5oo 
 
CANTO II. 21 
 
 He heard, and doubted slill ; for Albert's name 
 
 Stood high amid the rolls of- virtuous fame ; 
 
 And long he knew his soul a soul of fire , 
 
 That wont to rise above the groveling mire 
 
 Of mean r Passions, and uncheck'd aspire 
 
 To all that Love in its sublimest flights 
 
 Could give to female Virtue's tenderest rights ! 
 
 To question Virtue is a deep offence , 
 
 Never erased from lite generous brain : 
 
 It well behoved him then to use pretence 5io 
 
 Less odious", the true tale to ascertain. 
 
 In dark disguise and in a changed name 
 
 To Albert's Court with anxious heart he came^ 
 
 With Bertha's self to seek an interview. 
 
 But long he sought in vain ; and oft he grew 
 
 Impatient of his task ; at length he' found 
 
 A dame who listen'd to a flattering tale -, 
 
 And on a day of feast , when all around 
 
 Was noise and tumult and the mingling sound 
 
 Of music, and the watch was wont to fail 52o 
 
 Of Argus' eyes , she bore him to the Queen , 
 
 Who with an haggard look and starting mien 
 
 Surveyed his face, and heard the tender tone 
 
 Of his low voice ; and then with wild affright 
 
 Cried "Raymond, does thy spectre meet my sight? 
 
 vWhat means this wonder ?» — « Bertha, hush! Alone 
 
 wAnd secret I would fain confer with thee! 
 
aOL ODO. 
 
 »I pray ihee quickly name the place and hour : 
 wAnd dearest Bertha , let it sacred be ! » 
 
 c(My Raymond , always loved , now more beloved 53o 
 wThan ever by a bleeding , broken heart , , 
 ))lf , in this time of need , thou hast the power 
 )>To shew th' affection , thou so oft hast proved , 
 ).Comc to thy suffering Bertha : but beware : 
 wEach step thou takest , there my be a snare : 
 wGuard every look, each word; ai^^ft guard the veil, 
 »That brought thee hither; or perchance we die! 
 vTo morrow^ , when Eve closes , and the .pale 
 wMoon lights her feeble guidance , I will fly 
 yTo the close bower of jasmine and of rose , 54o 
 
 ))In the south corner of the Orange grove ; 
 wThere shall my faithful Raymond hear the woes , 
 wThat first his Bertha to despondence drove ! w — 
 
 ((Enough ! impatient I the call await ; 
 wAnd till th' appointed time each minute count ! » 
 
 Slow ¥. ent the hours , in wildering self debate : 
 Long as a month appear'd their sad amount. 
 «Sun ! hasten on thy course : tliou hast a glare 
 »Too strong for the dark colours of my heart ! 
 );Thy painful radiance on its tumults spare ; ' 55o 
 
 »lVor blaze the gangrene of the poison'd dart! 
 »The soothing mantle of Night's shadowy car 
 )>To my sick bosom is more grateful far ! » — 
 
 The West was all on fire: the orb of Day, 
 
CANTO. a 3 
 
 Half pillow'd on the wave , its golden light 
 
 Threw upward and around ; then took its flight, 
 
 Dropping behind the Ocean ; and each ray 
 
 E'en in an instant faded quite away : (^) 
 
 And Eve came sailing on a purple cloud , 
 
 All objects in her dusky veil to shroud ! 56o 
 
 Raymond flew trembling to th' appointed place ; 
 
 And tender Bertha rush'd to his embrace. 
 
 «What ails my Bertha ? Ope that gentle breast , 
 >Jn which no thought of Evil e'er could rest! 
 «What ill can touch a breast so pure as hers ? 
 wWhere is the shrine , that blest Content prefers ? » — 
 
 »I fain would tell thee , Raymond , but I fear : 
 wDoubting the truth , which ought to meet thine ear ! 
 .)>Thou know'st how pure to Heaven the altar bore 
 vThe vows of faith , to Albert's love it wore ! 576 
 
 Mpure as they were , still , Raymond , they are pure 3 
 »And will , while beats this feeble pulse , endure. 
 wWould'st thou believe? have patience, while I tell! — 
 wThat Albert doubts them now ! O do not swell 
 »With ire so furious ! if thou wilt not quell 
 )>That mad vindictive look , i can no more 
 »Into that pitying heart my sorrows pour! 
 »Albert deserves not anger ! 't is his love , 
 wThat bids his heart these pangs injurious prove : 
 
 (i) This sudden disappearance of the Sun may be observed 
 in the Mediterranean. 
 
24 ODO. 
 
 »Anger would fix the dark disease, that preys 58o 
 
 wUpon his heart , but yet admits a cure : 
 
 y'Tis gentleness and reason's voice , that sways 
 
 wThe noble breast , misled by error's lure ! 
 
 )jO Raymond , time and patience , and kind tears , 
 
 yAnd prayers , and good for ill , would melt an heart 
 
 wOf stone; and ne'er can it be Albert's part , 
 
 )^To spurn the prayers which e'en Unkindness hears ! 
 
 5)Go , generous Brother : leave to Virtue's power 
 
 )>The bosom to reclaim , which evil hour 
 
 >^Turn'd to a momentary cruelty ! ^90 
 
 wGo , — A'vhile thy visit is a secret, lly: — - 
 
 ))Hide thy suspicion ; or my fate is cast ! 
 
 «Feel with what agony , as if the last, 
 
 »I press upon thy cheek this fond embrace ; 
 
 )>And take a farewell of my brother's face!» 
 
 She sigh'd ; she wept ; she press'd her trembling arms 
 Around her Brother's neck ; and she was gone ! 
 Then flying to her inmost chamber, free 
 She gave her soul to sorrow's worst alarms : 
 And thro' the night , and to the peering dawn , 600 
 
 All was despair , distraction ; agony. 
 • — « Tears, Bertha, still! to meet me still in tears! 
 ))Is this a consort's duty ? these her charms ? 
 wThe flame of love decays in clouds of fears; 
 »And Griefs chill showers the lender sparks suppress I 
 ^^My Bertha once those eyes in smiles could dress ; 
 
CANTO II. 
 
 25 
 
 ))And all was confidence ; and all was joy ! 
 
 wDoes she trust Albert's wonted faith no more ?' 
 
 »Or what dark thoughts her wandering mind employ ? » 
 
 Then frowning as he spoke, he quick withdrew; 6io 
 
 And roam'd alone , that he might ponder o'er 
 
 The sombre images , that would pursue 
 
 Each other through his agitated brain ; 
 
 And while to change their course he strove in vain. 
 
 Blacker and blacker , as he ponder'd , grew ! — 
 
 In Odo's converse he alone could find 
 
 A transient solace for his wounded mind : 
 
 Odo , who blasted by a faint defence 
 
 Her , for whose hapless cause he seem'd to plead j 
 
 And 5 while a healing balm was his pretence, . 620 
 
 At each new accent made the bosom bleed 
 
 With added poison ; till the deep disease , 
 
 Prepared for all the phantoms , that can seise 
 
 The heart's recesses , gave itself a Jirey 
 
 To wild Imagination's darkest sway. 
 
 Mysterious looks were in the Court ; a gloom 
 Was spread about , around ; as if a doom 
 Was gathering , rife to burst ; but when , or where , 
 On whom to fall , met not the wondering ear! 
 Odo , with face as if involved in grief , 63o 
 
 Seem'd mid the tribes of mystery the chief : 
 But in the tones of that low mournful' voice 
 There was an undergleam , that pierced disguise : 
 
2l6 ODO. 
 
 And said , « beneath that sable covering lies 
 
 « Some ray , that bids the secret heart rejoice ! » 
 
 Albert , astounded , melancholy , wild , 
 Exclaim'd : «if generous Odo has beguiled 
 wHis Prince's sorrows ; let him pour the balm 
 wNow on his bosom , and the tempest calm ! 
 j^Grief is contagious ; Bertha's eyes of gladness 640 
 
 wAre turn'd to weeping ; and upon the brow , 
 »Where soft Affection spoke the' eternal vow, 
 wSit the black clouds of bitterness and sadness ! 
 )>Thus spreads the sorrow round ; and every face , 
 »Where pleasure wont the genial halls to grace , 
 wCatches the hue of woe , suspicion , fear*, 
 wAnd sick lament ; and all my feasts appear . 
 »But the sad rites of the funereal bier ! » — 
 
 «My Lord and Sovereign ! » with a pitying look , 
 As if from his false eyes truth only spoke , 65o 
 
 Cried Odo , « we are born to ill on earth ; 
 wAnd even Princes share the common lot; 
 wYoung Hope , at early stages from our birth , 
 >^Springs up , the scenes of future joy to plot ; 
 ))Before the visions of futurity 
 )>A veil of bright delusive flowers he builds ; 
 )>And to the trusting inexperienced eye 
 wEach nearer prospect with false radiance gilds. 
 ))A little while in life's all-chequer'd day 
 )jThe sun's fair beams by clouds unthwarted play : 660 
 
CANTO II. 27 
 
 ))But ihe storm gathers soon ; and when delay'd, 
 
 »It comes back with a mightier swing and roll , 
 
 »As if it would the moments lost upbraid ; 
 
 wAnd ^\ a deeper terror on the soul ! 
 
 wAlbert , whose race in Time's long track is known 
 
 »By never-conquer'd fortitude of mind , 
 
 )jMay hear the rains descend and tempests groan , 
 
 wYet solace in his glorious spirit fmd ! 
 
 wAboYC the stornis of Fate 'tis his to raise 
 
 »His head ; and' mid surrounding darkness blaze ! » — 670 
 
 — «Odo ; I would that praise were just ; but here , 
 
 wA monitor within this beating breast ; 
 
 »The pang of soft regret; the melting tear; 
 
 »Shades of past pleasures , that allow no rest ; 
 
 «ResQlves , that yield to Beauty's dire caprice; 
 
 wAngers , that if the sigh but tremble , cease ; 
 
 wHow speak these signs , my Odo ? do they tell 
 
 »A hero's qualities within me dwell ? » — 
 
 «Albert J my Prince! forgive the bold emprize , 
 wWhich would withdraw the film, that blinds thine eyes ! 680 
 wit is not for weak woman's empty wiles 
 )>To cast their vapours on a soul of fire : 
 »Call forth the buried flame, that burns within; 
 );Throw off in wantonness , in scorn , or ire , 
 )>The interposing cloud , that dims thy day : 
 wCome forth arrayed in majesty , or smiles , 
 wOr indignation ; and thy power shall win 
 
 # 
 
2 8 . ODO. 
 
 wThe conquest , -vvliere thy worship stamps the sway 
 »Of those whom HeaYen created to obey ! » 
 
 «But is it not in woman's power to blight 690 • 
 
 »The name of fairest histre ; and to spread 
 ^Contempt upon the tarnish'd brow , \> hence , bright 
 wFrom honour's flowers , and taintless , should be shed 
 i/rhe wreaths of glory round the hero's head ? » 
 
 «0 Albert , trouble not thy noble heart 
 wWith the light follies of a woman's brain ! 
 ))Lea\e it to boys to play the lover's part : 
 ^Woman's a bauble , wanton , fickle , vain ; 
 i>Toy for an hour ; to be cast off again ; 
 »T^or let a trace of her past smiles remain ! » — 700 
 
 «Are these thy lessons, Odo ? is there naught 
 );0f hope in womaii's faith? or if it yield 
 ))Like wax before the furnace , are we taught , 
 »By pity for a strengthless bauble wrought , 
 »To bear dishonour to the world reveal'd; — 
 wErase it from the cells of troubled thought ; 
 »And to resentment's springing darts be steel'd ? 
 
 wNot so, great Prince! Forbid it Heaven, that Love 
 «Should never constant to its duty prove ! 
 ))I do not say, that if the crime betrays 710 
 
 wUnusual baseness', such as tales unfold 
 )>Of wanton Queens perchance in days of old , 
 wWho , when their Sovereigns thus have deign 'd to raise 
 >jTheir meaner sex e'en to the very throne , 
 
 • 
 
CANTO II. 29 
 
 :»Forgetfyl how their giddy height has grown , 
 
 »The hand that raised them , and the voice that led , 
 
 wWither with perfidy , and blast with scorn ; 
 
 «In the vile dust the sceptre's honours tread ; 
 
 )>And pluck the diamonds , that the Crown adorn ; 
 
 »I do not say , that , if ihe crime be rare , 720 
 
 wJustice should then her signal vengeance spare !» 
 
 »Odo , methinks , that were a Queen so base 
 »To nurse licentious passions , it would ask 
 rfArts seldom found, the secret guilt to hide: 
 »And where are they , would take the dangerous task , 
 ))To throw a veil upon the varied trace , 
 »When a full Court's quick eyes the search divide ? 
 
 •);Perchance, great Albert, he who tracks the guile, 
 ))Dare not the secret he has learn'd disclose ! 
 >^He would not poison the confiding smile ; 73o 
 
 »He would not plunge the trusting heart in woes ! » 
 
 «Odo, the wretch, who thus the wrong conceals , 
 wBecomes himself the, partner of the guilt ! 
 »Accursed be he , who knows , but not reveals ! 
 »1VIay his own blood , instead of hers , be spilt ! » 
 
 Now Odo seem'd in every limb to shake ; 
 His colour to grow pale ; his heart to quake : — 
 He seem'd, as if he strove the pause to break; 
 But that his failing lips refused to speak. 
 
 Albert began th'infectious fear to draw ; 740 
 
 And as with wonder and amaze he saw 
 
3o ODO. 
 
 Some direful mystery in Odo's soul, 
 
 He scarce Lis wild impatience could controui. 
 
 «0 cruel Odo , this suspence is worse 
 
 )>Than the most deathlike tale thou canst impart ! 
 
 wThou canst not throw a more terrific curse 
 
 wOn, Albert's soul, than thy suspicions dart! 
 
 »Speak : or this sword shall bare the secret, prest 
 
 »Within that guilty and relentless breast ! » 
 
 «My Sovereign , never yet had humble friend 7^0 
 
 ))A conflict so disastrous , as is mine ; 
 wHowe'er I act ; ( and fain I would divine 
 wThe path of duty , ) still I must offend , — 
 »Ah! e'en to death offend, — and endless woe! — 
 »0 whither lead these pangs that tear me so ? 
 ))How shall I frame my words , to let thee know 
 wThe dread ineffable unimaged deed ? 
 wCanst thou not spare me ? can thy fancy's fright 
 ))To the dread secret yet unspoken lead ? 
 wWhere once the day-beam shone, the blackest night 760 
 ))To all thy loveliest prospects must succeed ! » — 
 
 ■ — « O my brain maddens , Odo ? I would hear — 
 »But yet refrain ! my thronging thoughts declare 
 »A tale coo big with horror ! — It is past ! 
 »Odo , my sun is set ; my fate is cast ! » — 
 
 wWhen ill approaches in its full career, y-^ 
 
 »Whose gathering motion power and strength in vain 
 "Would strive to check, perchance more just the fear. 
 
CANTO n. 31 
 
 .>Than when the worst is done ; a deep rebound 
 
 wE'en from the fullness of its force is found; 770 
 
 »And from destruction's blow Hope springs again ! 
 
 wOdo , thou dread'st to tell, as I to learn ! 
 )>Is Bertha faithless? I am now prepared 
 ))To hear the fiend-hke story ! Do not turn 
 )>Away those eyes ofjiorror! Thou hast spared 
 wThe death-like truth too long ! What silent still! 
 wThen silence tells the deepest earthly ill , 
 ))Could blast my fame and fate ! » He spoke no more: 
 But shriek'd ; and lifeless .fell upon the floor. 
 
 An hour revived him. « Odo , » now he cried , 780 
 "The deed of horror must be told. Proceed ! » 
 The words still seem'd on Odo's lips to hang ; 
 And utterance seem'd to fail , while maddening ire 
 From Albert's eyes in furious flashes sprang ; 
 And madness rose upon suspicion's fire. 
 Then he grew calm : and while with pity mute 
 The fiend-like Odo dress'd his cunning face , 
 He let the jealous pang take deeper root; 
 And in the heart's last cells had power to trace 
 The red-flamed characters of his own Hell , 700 
 
 Which the Muse shudders , while she strives , to tell ! 
 
 END OF CANTO II. 
 
ODO. 
 
 CANTO III. 
 
 X Hus Odo paused : upon his cloudy brow 
 Sat the deep thought of the exploding storm ; 
 While tears began down Albert's cheeks to flow ; 
 And helpless Grief dissolved his vigorous form. 
 Then in low tone , and with a faithless sigh, 
 The seeming friend essay 'd the plot to try. 
 «Thou art prepared for woe , my Prince ! and now 
 »Fancy and Fear have done their worst , my tale 
 i)No more will o'er thy fortitude prevail ! 800 
 
 ^Sovereigns have duties higher than the ties , 
 »Which link them to false female flatteries ! 
 >;Throw by the wanton flower , e'en tho 'it glows 
 »With every radiant tint, if in its breast 
 wPerverse a store of hidden evil grows , 
 )>And blights the sweets , perfidious charms attest ! » 
 
 «Odo , no mysteries !» the Prince exclaim'd: 
 ))The speechless deed must yet be told ! My sword , 
 wif yet thou hesitate , shall rip the word 
 wFrom thy doom-telling tongue! It shall be named! — 810 
 »If Bertha has been faithless, do not spare 
 wThat sound , so sacred once ! » ( A trembling tear 
 Made the name faulter:) «yes, too well I know, 
 
CANTO III. 33 
 
 »In Bertha's fall a\ ill end this tale of woe ! » 
 And then his lips convulsed ; his flaming eye 
 Sunk in the clouds of black despair ; his breath 
 Struggled within him ; and impending Death 
 Strove to dravy^ out his last expiring sigh. 
 
 But the big spirit rose again ; and threw 
 The tyrant of destruction from his prey : 820 
 
 Then Odo spake: « My Sovereign, I obey! 
 »Alas ! my Sire ; thy presages are true ! 
 »Ungrateful Bertha is less good , I fear ; 
 »Less w^orthy of her Lord , than she is fair ! » 
 
 ((False, say'st thou, Odo, — not in thought alone ? » 
 Thus Albert stopp'd the wretch, while yet a ray 
 Of faint hope darted thro 'his stormy heart : 
 «My Lord, I make no comments ! I would say 
 »Less than the truth ; if thus I could impart 
 »That which exacts hard duty to a throne ! 83o 
 
 • )>Bertha ! — (alas, my hapless tongue will fail 
 ))To tell the horrors of the unrival'd tale ; — ) 
 »Bertha holds converse in her secret bowers 
 »With one in deep disguise, whose manly form 
 »And fair-proportioned limbs might rival yours; — 
 »And listeners say, their language breathes of warm 
 »And fond affection : nay , my Lord , be still , 
 »While yet the dreadful duty I fulfill: — 
 wLock'd in each other's arms, the witness swears , 
 »They bade farewell with kisses , and with tears ! » 840 
 
 3 
 
34 ODO. 
 
 Leap'd from the Monarch's sheath the flaming sword j 
 Wild thro' the palace Courts he ran ; and cried 
 For Bertha ; « where is Bertha ? » but the word , 
 . Uttered in shrieks of madness , quickly spread 
 Horror around; and Bertha, on whose head 
 Love , reverence , gratitude , protection shed , 
 Each faithful menial eager ran to hide : — 
 For all perceived the monarch's maniac mind ; 
 But knew not yet the cause ! «What ails my Lord?» 
 Said breathless Bertha ! « Was that sword design'd 85o 
 For Bertha's bosom? What has Bertha done,. 
 «Her Lord to anger ? Has vile Odo won 
 )>At last his poison'd ear ? A fate so sad 
 toToo soon may turn the soundest brain to mad ! 
 »But let me seek him still ! I will not fly, 
 >jLike guilt ; but run to meet his reddening eye ; 
 »And fall before his feet ; or kiss away , 
 ))And turn to smiles , his anger's burning ray ! 
 »Sure I could calm the fury of his brain ! 
 »For I was wont with power uncheck'd to reign 860 
 
 »0'er all the movements of his heart ; and still 
 »The wildest A\ave that, in that sacred spring, 
 wRose to disturb our bliss ; and I could fling 
 wFlowers of enchantment , that with magic thrill 
 »Could turn all grief to joy ; and every cloud 
 wCould pierce with radiance ; and the tempest loud 
 »Could change to notes of softest harmony I 
 
CANTO in. 35 
 
 )>An(i is it gone? all this delirious power 
 
 »Gone , gone at once ? What is the nameless deed , 
 
 »A vengeance so severe is sent to try ? 870 
 
 j>What crime of horror , in what evil hour , 
 
 »Has been to hapless Bertha's charge decreed ? » 
 
 She darted forward : hands, and screams, and prayers 
 Held back her struggling steps: «0 stay, yet stay; 
 )>Fond , lovely, dreaming Princess! we obey 
 »A11 other orders : — if thine anger tears 
 »To dust those arms which hold thee , we will cling 
 »Still to that tender form, which not the blow 
 »Of fury to the door of death shall bring, 
 »While these adoring trembling hands can throw 880 
 
 ))The shield of safety o'er thy precious life ! — » 
 
 — «Am I condemn'd to death? and who condemns? 
 »Condemn'd without a charge; without a note; — 
 »A hint I have done wrong ? I know no ill ! 
 wThough nought is perfect — (there are specks in gems ;) 
 »My conscience owns no passing wicked will: — 
 »And for ill deeds , there is no stain or spot 
 »Upon the milk-white passage of my days ! » 
 
 «0 loveliest ruler of our hearts , whose praise 
 »Words weak as ours can never duly raise , 890 
 
 ))How canst thou deem thine innocence a shield , 
 »When Madness starts, the sword of death to wield?" 
 
 «Mad ! then indeed is Albert's reason fled ? 
 »Ah thus comes madness ! to one guilty mind 
 
36 oDo. 
 
 j)Must be the' iufliction of this woe assigned I 
 »And yet the lights , that shone round Albert's head, 
 »Methought , too strong , to see that reason dead ! 
 »Ah, the storm nearer conies! how loud he speaks! 
 «Walls echo Bertha's name! — he roars — he shrieks! 
 »Save me , my friends ! \^ ithin the deepest walls 900 
 
 »Shelter your Bertha's fainting frame : no more 
 «Can she endure to hear her Monarch's calls I » 
 
 Exhausted eyes that saw not ; faultering feet , 
 That kept no hold on the deceitful floor ; 
 Arms that still waved the wandering sword, to meet 
 Some visionary form that mock'd the sight ; 
 The Prince at length, as in the pangs of Death j 
 Sunk; feebly moved his intermitted breath, 
 As at each gasp 'twould take its final flight. 
 Courtiers stood wondring round ; while Odo , sole 910 
 Sklird in its cause , his unopposed controul 
 Held o'er the rest : with looks of seeming woe 
 He gazed upon his Master's pallid facie ; 
 And as the tears around began to flow , 
 Seem'd all the tribe in weeping to surpass : -— 
 To the still chamber of his nightly rest 
 The senseless frame was borne ; to deep repose 
 By Odo's mandate that unconscious mind , 
 Reckless of her who ruled so long his breast j 
 
CANTO III. 37 
 
 Of her, who lately caused his speechless woes ! 920 
 
 Reckless of Bertha's \^atchings, was consigned! 
 
 Stunn'd , weeping, wondering, stupified with grief, 
 In a lone chamber , faint , o'ercome with fear , 
 Almost too feeble to intreat relief, 
 Lay Bertha , stretch'd upon a cheerless bed ! 
 Her former fond attendants all were fled; 
 She heard no sound but of a clinking spear, 
 Or guard's low , regular , repeated tread ! 
 Or ere perchance the distant passage door 
 Turn'd on its rusty hinges , the sad sound q3o 
 
 Of iron key with echoing creek went round ; 
 And then recurr'd the same sad sound once more, 
 With care the bolt of iron to restore ! 
 Half senseless, yet the dismal tone awoke 
 Her frighten'd faculties ; and thus she spoke ; 
 Bui spoke to hard unhearing walls — «What tone 
 »Is that , as of a prison ? Iron bar ; 
 >^And massy hinge ; and the revolving jar 
 >^Of doors forever closing ! and alone ! — 
 ^Without an eye to soothe ; or voice to cheer ; 04© 
 
 j)All the swarms gone, to whom I once was dear! 
 ))My brain is dizzy ! woe succeeds to woe ; — 
 )>Fear follows fear ; and blow comes out on blow I 
 ))I cannot guess my destiny ; I know 
 »]Vo traces of this dismal cell : — but pray 
 »That Heaven would take me to the harbouring grave ; 
 
38 oDo. 
 
 »For earth has nothing now, that can repay 
 
 wThe torments I have braved, and still have here to brave ! » 
 
 The gloomy light from her bewilder'd eyes 
 Again was shrouded ; and with feeble sighs 9^^ 
 
 On her hard pallet she reposed again 
 In calm insensibihty ; the noise 
 Of creaking door no longer on her ear 
 Strikes; and malignant Fancy works in vain, 
 While those dire images the fiend employs, 
 Perch'd on the sounds the sufferer wont to hear ! 
 
 Alas that ear had heard too true ! the sound 
 Was the dread prison bolt ; and close around 
 Tramp'd the fell guard with lynx's eye , to close 
 All exit to the wretched Bertha's woes ! 960 
 
 Odo had done the deed : by Odo's hand 
 In characters of blood the dread command 
 Was traced , that bade the Captain of the Tower 
 Hold the poor victim strait , till came the hour , 
 When Trial due from Treason's charge night free , 
 Or to the fate , which crime deserves , decree ! 
 
 Twas Odo's hand ; but in the Monarch's name : 
 For now the Prince resumed an outward calm: 
 Tho' deep within was seen the working flame ; 
 And vain were Odo's wiles to pour a balm 970 
 
 Into his bleeding bosom! — Hurried look, 
 That not a glance of Courtier's gaze would brook; 
 And incoherent word , and shifting thought , 
 
CANTO III. 39 
 
 Betray'd the trouble in his bosom wrought ! 
 
 A council held , in order due was told 
 The damning proof of Bertha's guilt : the tale 
 Alas ! too clear and full of force , controul'd 
 Each willing doubt , in spite of love's avail ; 
 And pity's sceptic scruples! Odo wore 
 A face of tears ; a voice of tender moan ; 980 
 
 While the dread story he began disclose. 
 «You know , my Lords , » he said _, « you know I bore 
 »To that fall'n Princess , to whose lovely throne 
 »All eyes and hearts in adoration rose , 
 »Awe , wonder , soul-esteem , above the rest ! 
 »Then think with what a withering woe I heard 
 »The secret of her speechless crime preferr'd ! 
 »And then how stern , and rigidly , I prest 
 wThe proof , that must so vile a deed attest ! 
 wStill as each proof came clearer , to my breast 990 
 
 »The pang of torment ran with fiercer flame ; 
 »Till I began to doubt if Heaven's own light 
 ))Was not delusion ; and all Virtue's name 
 »Fair to deceive , and mischievously bright ! 
 »The soft-eyed, sweet-tongued , tender-hearted Dame, 
 i)Bertha , whose lore was wisdom; in whose course 
 j>Of days no act , but what an Angel's smile 
 wMfght sanction, seem*d to pass : in whom no guile 
 ))Censure itself could trace ; whom not by force , 
 wBut Nature's prompting , Goodness seem'd to guide, 1000 
 
4o ODO. 
 
 »E'en Bertha false and wanton! How is pride 
 »Of mortal essence sunk ! And woman's star 
 >>How lost in darkness , to revive no more ! 
 » — Yet worse ! it shrouds the beams from Glory's car, 
 ))That naught but Heaven's own justice can restore !» 
 
 He spake — and veil'd his face; and downward bow'd, 
 As if his task his strength had overplied ; 
 And woe had conquer'd him! The Council vow'd 
 That justice to their Prince was due; but tried 
 Still with faint hope some lurking doubt to draw ., loio 
 From the strange tale : for there is yet a pure 
 And simple radiance in true Virtue's mien , 
 That makes th'admiring eye of wisdom sure ; 
 While in the gem not genuine peeps a flaw, 
 By the stern eye of penetration seen! 
 «And what but purity ia Bertha's face; 
 «And Bertha's form ; and Bertha's words and deeds ! 
 wSpeak, my good Lords;— e'en tho' the bosom bleeds, 
 wlhat speaks the wonder , did ye ever trace 
 >^Aught but angelic in sad Bertha's life ? » 1020 
 
 ftjVo, my Lords, no ! » united all exclaim; 
 <(In every act , in every courtly strife , 
 )>Gay , solemn; pleasure, business; still the same, 
 >^An angel's mind an angel's form inspired ! » 
 
 Odo scarce heard; or scarcely seem'd to hear ; 
 But yet some swelling thought his bosom fired; 
 For up his head he half began to rear; 
 
CANTO III. 4i 
 
 Then down it sank upon his arm ; and loud 
 
 A deep sigh issued from his bosom proud. 
 
 «Enough , my Lords ! » he cried, « another day io3o 
 
 »We meet in calmer mood ; and then be mine , 
 
 »The painful task some iTicasure to divine , 
 
 »Our monarch's rights to save ; and to repay 
 
 )>An injured Prince , howe'er severe the pain , 
 
 »For the mild bounties of his virtuous reign ! » 
 
 Now Bertha in her lone apartment mourn'd; 
 
 As the wild tumult in her bosom ceased, 
 
 Each sad surmise within her thoughts she turn'd ; — 
 
 But vain ! no hope her sinking heart appeased. 
 
 "No friend approach'd : the jarring portal still 1040 
 
 Creak'd on its hinges : and the sound ran chill 
 
 To her appalled soul , of tread of guard, 
 
 That paced without , while every window barr'd 
 
 Said, « Bertha, thou art charged with crime of state, 
 
 »That holds thy wretched life in close debate !.» 
 
 But the door opened , and at length relief 
 Appear'd to enter: 'twas a female form. 
 Of look to Bertha strange; but yet it wore 
 A face of pity. « Lonely Lady , Grief 
 
 »Suits ill with solitude ; and doubt's alarm io5o 
 
 »Kind converse may perchance to peace restore! » 
 
4^ ODO. 
 
 Bertha look'd up : a bursting tear o'erveil'd 
 Those eyes, whose dazzling brilliance lately paled 
 All other stars ; and rising sighs supprest 
 That tender tougue , -whose eloquence on wings 
 Of soft delight was wont to bear away 
 The listening hearer's spirit — « Canst thou say , » 
 At length in broken w ords she spoke , «whence springs 
 »This doom of darkness , that the wretch befalls , 
 »"Whom now thou visitest ? What mean these walls 1060 
 »Lone , iron-barr'd, spear-guarded? Is the cell, 
 »To which a Queen is cast , e'en unarraign'd , 
 wUnheard , uncharged , the dismal spot , where chain'd 
 »The fierce-fan g'd murderer dies beneath the fell 
 »Arm of vindictive Justice ? Thou art pale ; 
 ))Thy lips all quiver ! -;- Own the unequal'd tale ! 
 )>End this suspence ; and I can bear the worst ! 
 »Attests my conscience , I ne'er did an ill ; 
 ))But I can deem that it may be Heaven's will , 
 »That innocence itself may be accurst 1070 
 
 »To mortal woes , and ignominious death : 
 i)And in the realms of bliss we shall regain 
 wFull recompence for all our earthly pain ! 
 »Speak then ! is this Death's signal ? Is the breath 
 ))I drew in palaces , within this den 
 »To close in ignominy ; and the fame 
 ))A flattering world yet deem'd without a taint , 
 
CANTO III. 43 
 
 )>To go out blasted in the eyes of men ? 
 
 ))Say ! tell my doom ! — I die without complaint ! » 
 
 «Fair Princess! and who looks upon that face, 1080 
 »Can only goodness in its radiance trace , — 
 wThou may'st take comfort yet! The spot , which stains , 
 »Sure there are dewy herbs that wash away , 
 »If from ^vithout it comes; — but the deep dye 
 »That rises from the soul , not all the pains , 
 »And all the washes of earth's wealth obey ! — 
 »Wash , rub , purge , purify ; all arts apply ; 
 »Yet the stain grows ; — redder and redder still 
 »Against all labour flames the rooted ill ! » 
 
 « Thou talk'st in mysteries ! O do not toy loqo 
 
 »With human misery ; plain words employ ; 
 »Tell me the guilt I'm charged with ; let me know 
 »The name of him who dares to plot my woe ! 
 »And if his wicked soul be too supreme 
 »ror me to cope with , let me steel my soul 
 »To meet the fate , that Heaven shall have decreed ! 
 »I know Heaven's ways are various ! In a dream ; 
 » ( And in a dream the spells sometimes unroll , 
 wTraced by an Angel's hand, — ) I lately read , 
 »That 'twas my doom upon the block to bleed, iioo 
 
 »For that which never pass'd my very thought ! 
 
44 ODO. 
 
 »And then a Chief in radiant stars appeared; 
 ))And much he seem'd to weep ; and much he sought 
 »The mien of deep rehiclance , while his tongue 
 »Told the dread tale , that Bertha's lips were heard 
 »To breathe unholy love ; and Bertha hung 
 »Enamour'd on a vile adulterer's breast ! 
 >iAnd then a broad flash came ; and I beheld , 
 »Th' Accuser was in Odo's features dress'd ! 
 ))I look'd again — the frowning Shade repel'd 
 »My curious gaze; and then 1 trembling woke!)) 
 
 '( Fair Princess , 'twas indeed an idle dream , 
 »By which ill Spirits thy sad slumbers broke ! )> 
 »Twas but to wrest from thee the friends they deem 
 »Most thy protectors, that these airy Shapes, 
 »Whose active zeal the guardian care escapes 
 »Of watchful angels, sought thy troubled brain, 
 »While bow'd beneath misfortune grief and pain ! 
 »To Odo thou must trust ! On Odo's power 
 »Thy hope of safety rests; in Odo's love, 
 ( )) Ah , reverential love , and loyalty , ) 
 »Against the gathering waves that would devour , 
 »Thou must owe all , that comes not from above ; 
 » All good , which earth's fond scenes may yet supply ! )> 
 
 «Lady! if thou thyself dost not belong 
 »To those ill Spirits , who possess the spell, 
 »In the false form of fair humanity 
 »To cloathe themselves , that they may mix among 
 
CANTO III. 45 
 
 j)The scenes of human life ; and masked dwell 
 )>WItli mortals to delude, and to mislead, — ii3o 
 
 ))Talk not of Odo thus : I know his wiles ; 
 ))And it has been my lot for years to heed 
 »His treacherous purposes , tho' cloathed in smiles ! 
 »Go back to Odo ! tell him I can pierce 
 »His deepest schemes ; and though he look as fierce , 
 »Where guile is useless , as the tyger's eye , 
 ))When roused by rage and hunger on his prey 
 >;He darts his ravenous fangs, ray destiny 
 »No more shall in his falsehood trust obey ! 
 »If I shall fall before his power, I fall il4o 
 
 »Unblinded , undeceived ; with head , heart , eyes , 
 »A11 open ; never , never more disguise 
 wAvails to Bertha ! in the Royal Hall 
 i)His arts may yet deception work ! But go ; 
 »Thou art his emissary ! Leave the wretch , 
 »Alone upon her bed of pain to stretch; 
 »And lift her soul to combat with her woe ! 
 ))If it is thus , rash Princess ! if thy will , 
 .)Too obstinate to hear the saving truth, 
 » Against thy belter fate must struggle still; il5o 
 
 wPerchance , 'tis Heaven's decree ! — And if in youth 
 »Thy sun in blood- shall set ; and that fair form 
 »Lie headless, while the purple tide is warm, 
 wThine be the deed ! on that abandon'd soul 
 »Still be the stigma , while long ages roll ! 
 
46 OBO. 
 
 »But thou may*st slill be saved ; and Odo's hand , 
 »Spite of reproaches , is at thy command ! » 
 
 Then forth she rush'd ; and at her voice's sound 
 The doors all open'd ; and with dread rebound 
 Closed on her exit; echoing all along 1160 
 
 The quick-returning withering bolt , whose strong 
 Guard said to Bertha, « thou must linger here, 
 »Till death release thee; or thou yieldst thy fate 
 ))To him who never bent to pitying tear j 
 wlVor knew relenting love , nor curb'd ferocious hate ! » 
 
 END OF CANTO III. 
 
CANTO IV. 47 
 
 CANTO IV. 
 
 A. 
 
 L.WE, wonder, fear, suspicion, murmurs low, 
 Pale-faced , half-utter'd guesses, withering gloom, 
 And brooding discontent , and helpless woe, 
 Seem'd waiting for some dread unspoken doom. 
 Above, around; upon the palace-towers; 1170 
 
 Thro' all its Courts; thro* all its halls, and bowers. 
 Where Joy was w ont to reign ; and splendid show 
 Its radiance to the sunny bosom throw , 
 Now Darkness , as with the funereal pall 
 Of Death eternal seem'd to sit o'er all ! ^ 
 
 The Monarch mute , wilh fix'd , unheeding eye , 
 Look'd as on some deep inward purpose bent, 
 Whence nought without should draw him to relent : 
 As if his daring aim was still to try 
 
 To what dire cruelty, beyond controul 1180 
 
 Of human influence, he could steel his soul ! — 
 As if to say , «no more in human kind 
 »I will believe that there is good or truth ! 
 wFair looks no more must cheat a Monarch's mind ; 
 )>Nor mercy be , where treason reigns , nor ruth ! y 
 
 In outward semblance Odo wore the hues 
 Congenial to the sorrows reigning round ; 
 
48 ODO. 
 
 Upon the ruling grief he seem'd to muse ; 
 And even with the mourner's voice was found 
 To mix his sighs; and to the mourner's tears 1 190 
 
 To add soft pity and mysterious fears I 
 On Bertha's name he lavish'd all the glow 
 Of eloquence irapassion'd ; spoke with awe 
 Of her resplendent charms ; and with a flow 
 Of melting sympathy essay'd to draw 
 *Her hapless fate ! — « Ah ; human weakness ! » said 
 The deep perfidious man ; « if Bertha's heart 
 wCould not prevail against the spells , that , spread 
 «In mortal paths , their poisonous lures impart 
 »To tempt from truth and heavenly rectitude , 1200 
 
 »Then what is virtue ? who was ever good ? 
 »But let us think ! the very charms that seem'd 
 ))A gift of heaven ; that sweet enchanting tongue ; 
 »That magic lore , on which admirers hung ; 
 wThose sentiments angelic , that were deem'd 
 »As of celestial breath , perhaps were all 
 »The very lures that made the angel fall I 
 wDelicious joy upon those charms to gaze 
 wPerhaps the lover's daring flame inspired ; 
 wAnd Bertha's self might perish in the blaze 12 10 
 
 ^Resistless , which her very virtues fired ! » 
 
 The long days linger'd on ; and yet more sad , 
 When Night had in her sable mantle clad 
 
CANTO IV. 49 
 
 The doleful prison walls ; each tedious hour 
 Seem'd as if that chill hideous pierceless gloom 
 Was fix'd for ever : minutes were as days : — 
 Yet e'en the pitchy darkness had no power 
 To hide the infernal sprites , that thro' the room 
 To her mock'd \iew their frightful shapes would raise ! 
 
 When wish'd Morn came ; tho' it in glimmering light 1220 
 Alone broke thro' th' opposing bars , she bless'd 
 Its doubtful dim relief; and cheer'd her sight 
 With the dun yielding texture , which the ray, 
 Dividing , into twinkling atoms pressed. 
 And now a radiance shot upon her brain , 
 And Bertha's mighty soul return'd again. 
 She threw bewildering helpless fear away; 
 And bade her heart a heroine's thoughts obey I 
 
 A note soon reach'd her on affairs of state; 
 That one of trust ^\ith humble duty prayed laSo 
 
 A conference , importing much the fate 
 Of her, his Queen adored, to hold: and said, 
 That comfort would attend the granted suit ; 
 And much it would behove, with candid ear 
 The voice, that sought her happiness , to hear; 
 And hopeless was the lot of Bertha mute ! 
 
 Denial vain , the suffering captive still'd 
 Wandring conjecture , which had only fill'd 
 Her heart with useless fears, and weaken'd more 
 The calm that all her efforts would restore.--^ 1240 
 
 4 
 
5o ODO. 
 
 A hurry in the Courts ; and shoulder'd armt , 
 And ratlling swords , and up the circling tower 
 A tread of footsteps, came wilh chill alarms 
 On Bertha's listening ear : her bosom beat ; 
 And death had u elcome been , when no retreat 
 Beyond th' intruding visitor was found ! — 
 
 Once more the bolt drew back ; and ring of shields , 
 And rest of halberts, gave the shivering sound 
 Of one, at whose red crimes slern Justice wields 
 Her iron-pointed guard! — Obeisance low, i25o 
 
 And lofty plume waved to the dingy floor, 
 Announce Count Odo's presence : Bertha starts 
 Back to the dismal cell's remotest bound ; 
 Trembling she hides her face : upon her brow 
 Hang the pale drops of death : and o'er and o'er 
 She cries, «Avaunt! thy fiend-like presence darts 
 »Pangs to my heart , and horror to my soul ! » — 
 — : « Bertha , but hear me ! thou must yet controul 
 )>Those furies of injustice to thy friend ! 
 
 »He comes to whisper comfort; and to lend 1260 
 
 »To sorrow's deep infliction Pity's balm ! » — 
 
 A flood of tears descended Bertha's cheek ; 
 She dropp'd upon her humble chair; and calm 
 Began to still her tumults — « Thou mayst speak , 
 >;Fair Princess ! all is safe w ithin this breast : 
 »Ah , — safe as if e'en in thine own it rest! » — 
 — « Count Odo , I have not a wish, a thought , 
 
CA]>fTO IV. 01 
 
 »But all the world may know ! and therefore thee 
 
 >.I would have lold whatever thou had'st sought, 
 
 »Wilhout ihls rude unceremonious call ; 1270 
 
 ))As if I had within this tortured breast 
 
 wThoughts only fit to trust a prison wall, 
 
 win its dark depths impenetrably prest. — 
 
 wOne only wilness; he, of men the flower, 
 
 rtWhose faith not mortal turpitude could doubt , 
 
 wWhose love sincere , ^^ hose generous friendship , stout 
 
 ))Against all human trials , earthly power 
 
 wCould ne'er corrupt ; nor selfish Passion lead 
 
 );To wrong another ; or to do a deed , 
 
 j^That Angels might not write in types of gold ! » 1280 
 
 «It is not mockery. Princess, (that in clouds, 
 wWhose darkness e'en an Angel's shape enshrouds , ) 
 »Eecomes that aweful hour, \^ hich would unfold 
 »The means to v^ ipe the blackening stains away , 
 »0f those who seek to win immortal day!» — 
 
 «Where is my Prince ; my consort ? At his knees, 
 i>l never , never laid a prayer in vain ! » 
 
 «Ah! charming Bertha! thou, I know, couldst please; 
 »And there with most supreme dominion reign ! 
 )iBut didst thou never wanton with thy power? 1200 
 
 )>Hast thou not braved it in an evil hour ? » — 
 
 «Never , Count Odo ! if the bliss was mine 
 »To rule that great and generous bosom, still 
 »Not once , Heaven witness , did I turn to ill 
 
012 ODO. 
 
 »The precious gift ! And say can it be thine , 
 
 »At that dread altar , where the truth alone 
 
 »E'en wickedness must speak ; before that throne 
 
 »Can it be thine , the same pure worth to plead ? 
 
 wllast thou an heart ? that trembling hand, lay there ; 
 
 ))And thus, as thou salvation hopest , swear! » i3oo 
 
 «Fair Princess ! in an hour tf utmost need , 
 )>I came to soothe, to counsel, nay to save! 
 »I did not come to be accused by thee ! 
 )jBut thou hast turn'd th'accuser ; thou dost crave 
 »To put me on my trial ! not to me 
 >;Belong the taunts , thy tongue's ungenerous rage 
 >j Throws on a name , Avhich never shall the page 
 )>0f History stain ; which , spite of cruel wrong , 
 »Shall pay the justice which thy beauties claim ; 
 »The love, and faith, which to those charms belong; i3iO 
 »And if thou dost not mar that once-bright fame 
 5)By rash resentment , and by froward pride , 
 »WiIl dissipate those clouds , and dash those foes 
 »To atoms , which surround thee now ; and raise 
 »Thy car again in glory's track to ride ; 
 ))And for those hours now gloom'd in deepest woes , 
 «A11 glad and radiant make thy future days ! » 
 
 Amazement sat on Bertha's looks : a veil 
 Of misty vapour rose upon her sight : 
 
 Her colour went and came; her wandering thought i320 
 Caught not in Odo's words a speck of light. — 
 
CANTO IV. 53 
 
 It was some ominous deep-poison'd lale ; — 
 Some art of Hell , that her desf ruction sought ! 
 Her tears flow'd fast ; her lilly hand was held 
 To hide the gathering tumult of her face : 
 Odo uncheck'd upon the magic grace 
 Of that bewitching form with tremulous gaze 
 Fix'd his unhallow*d eyes : his heart rebell'd; 
 And his ire melted in the dangerous blaze ! 
 
 «Wipe off those tears ! withdraw the hand, that shrouds i33o 
 »That angel face ; and pour the griefs , that swell 
 )>That bursting heart with overwhelming clouds, 
 »Into the breast of thy devoted slave ! 
 vO cruel Bertha, thou the tale mayst tell ; 
 ))And Odo, true, tho' slander'd , yet shall save ! » 
 
 The Princess redden'd : thro her frame there ran 
 A v\ ild despairing force ; and she began : 
 «What means this tale , that thy presumptuous words 
 wFor ever dwell upon ? In Heaven's records 
 ))No deed of darkness is inscribed to me! i34o 
 
 »Thou know'st already all that I can tell : 
 wThen why unceasing on this mystery dwell ? 
 «If charges false , it is the Fate's decree , 
 wShould fall upon my head , then boldly say 
 »Th'Imputed crime , that I in open day 
 »May meet th'accuser; and due vengeance claim 
 »For him who slanders injured Bertha's name ! » 
 
 ((Princess, m whose fair words and ruhng eyes 
 
54 ODO. 
 
 ))Dwel]s magic! mortal weakness must oppose ^ 
 
 »With faint and trembling hope , the pleading tongue i35o 
 )^That thus can in its own defence arise ! 
 );The listener, v>hile thy rapturing language flows, 
 wListens delirious , as if angels sung ! 
 »If there be ought of love idolatrous, 
 wWhich ravishes our reason ; and in spite 
 ))Of holiest vows and prayers , inebriates us , 
 »(For we are human,) it may be forgiven, 
 )>At Beauty's gaze to err thro' pure delight ; 
 )jTo sin , and yet not shut the gates of Heaven ! 
 »If at some dangerous hour , when all the heart, i36o 
 »Tuned to delicious harmony , would A\ake 
 »At every parsing breeze's frequent sigh , 
 ))The magic of some female form should dart 
 »ller radiance on him ; if the charm should break 
 win mien like Bertha on his ravish'd eye ; 
 wAnd if he should in adoration fall , 
 wSinking before the splendor of her power , 
 )>And rashly, madly, on her mercy call; 
 »And she beneath the veil of secret bower , 
 »In one wild moment's overwhelming net, i370 
 
 wTlie past , the present , future should forget ; » 
 «Angels perchance may pity! Prayer, and time, 
 »And good for evil, may wash out the crime !» 
 « It cannot be wash'd out! Odo , thy tongue 
 «Is full of falsehood: and thou must not wrong 
 
CANTO IV. 55 
 
 »My unstained ears with lore like this ! the guile 
 
 »Of the accursed serpent thou puts't on ; 
 
 )>But I am not that Eve , "who to thy wile 
 
 »Will be a victim ! if thine arts have won 
 
 »Thy passage upward, where thy Passions led, i38o 
 
 »And with an earthly glory crown'd thy head , 
 
 »It still shall fade , in spite of power and state 
 
 » Where villains prosper, and where fools are great !» 
 
 ^Relentless ill within thy bosom grows , 
 wMistaken Queen ! but Odo's patient love , 
 «Awe of thy charms , and pity for thy woes , 
 wStill combats insults, and will strive to prove 
 )>That he can still be generous, just and kind. 
 ))If there be yet the youth whose transient joy 
 »Would recompense all danger, and all pain; i^go 
 
 »If yet delirious transport, lost and blind 
 )>To treason and the scaffold, could em2:)loy 
 »A. passing hour of victory to gain 
 mTIic prize ; which tasted , if it comes no more , 
 ^Leaves life a desert, and the death, that waits 
 )>The venial crime , but a severe release ; 
 vl would his lot were mine; I would deplore 
 »Its ills with rapture mingled , I would cease 
 ))To deprecate the pang, that expiates 
 
 »So sweet an error: — let the sword display 1400 
 
 ))Its waving edge to strike me; I would say, 
 
56 ODO. 
 
 ftAvenging Tveapon , thou may'st strike to day I 
 »For I have lived ; and thou mayst take the rest ! 
 »In one short hour a hfe of joy was prest ! » 
 
 Bertha v^ith w^ild amazement stared; a frown 
 Half withered Odo's dauntless front ; she rose; 
 And with a waving hand and hollow voice 
 Half-choak'd by terror : « Wicked Serpent, own 
 »Thy mission ! «^ she exclaim'd — « sure Heaven allows 
 »Thee still in human misery to rejoice; l4io 
 
 ))And Satan comes in Odo's form and name , 
 »The world to his dominion to reclaim ! » 
 
 But when there is an hell within , no sound 
 Of human justice can inflict a wound. — 
 There is no conscience to receive the blow ; 
 There is no echo , that can make it know 
 The marks that right and wrong divide ; and shew 
 The broad-hued tints , whose glaring contrast shines 
 To all the world beside , to mark the lines ! 
 IVot Bertha's beauty could the flame of ire 1 420 
 
 Hoodwink ; or break the softness of the fire, 
 That shot from her enchanting eyes ; or tame 
 The lovely magic of her tender frame ! — 
 
 «That anger , lovely Princess , suits thee well ! 
 Was this the charm , that won the happier youth , 
 
CANTO IV. 57 
 
 For whom e'en Bertha could forego her truth ? 
 
 For terms of coquetry; and words that tell 
 
 Severe reproaches ; and denial strong , 
 
 Venus has taught, from days of all our sires, 
 
 Give double sweetness to the fateful wrong : i43o 
 
 Add glow to beauty , and but fan the fires ! 
 
 But dost thou think, that he, who knows how wild 
 
 In the pure Dames, whose looks to common eyes 
 
 With chaste affection's throes have only smiled , 
 
 Runs the veil'd flame when caught by love's surprize, 
 
 Lists to proud vaunts of virtue ; or believes* 
 
 The flower , no longer spotless , yet receives 
 
 One only stain ! ye cannot wash away 
 
 The deed once done ; and therefore Women say, 
 
 « Let us then, even in despair , be gay !» i44o 
 
 In thought profound sat Bertha : half she heard 
 The strange Satanic pleading ; half in fear , 
 And overwhelming tumult , her closed ear 
 Lost the mysterious deep-wove words, preferr'd 
 To blight that mind , which loath'd impurity 
 E'en in dim hints dared never yet to try ! 
 
 «Does he dare breathe his odious love to me?» 
 The mad thought cross*d her brain : «this Odo — he, 
 Abhorred of all mankind — the vilest foe , 
 An hapless, injured. Queen could ever know! i/jSo 
 
 O fall'n — how fall'n ! unequal'd fall ; below 
 The depths to which despondence' self could go I 
 
58 ODO. 
 
 And fhese accursed prison -walls, whose shame 
 
 Brings on the curse of insults worse than death! 
 
 Degraded less ; he had not dared my name 
 
 Associate thus .^ith his polluted breath!* 
 
 But yet 'tis mystery : spots upon my fame, 
 
 As tilings of which the damning proof he h^lds, 
 
 He tells with wanton and malignant joy: 
 
 He speaks of one , to whom my wedded love 1460 
 
 I ha\e abandon'd : — When the Book unfolds, 
 
 At that all-dreaded judgement-seat above. 
 
 The love I pledged, no record will destroy; 
 
 And in that Book of Life it will be seen , 
 
 Odo has slander'd his defenceless Queen ! » 
 
 But Bertha spake not : thro' her troubled soul 
 Tumults too big for words in conflict ran: 
 And thus \^hile Odo gazed, again began 
 Thro' his dark heart unhallow'd fires to roll. 
 He rose : nhile Bertha hid her pallid face , i470 
 
 ^And sighing , sobbing sat, adown her side 
 Her lilly hand hung lifeless; i\ith quick pace 
 He darted to her feet ; and thus he tried 
 That hand to his Satanic lips to raise ; 
 And vvilh a kiss, that spoke the fire of Hell, 
 He 'strove to stain that tender hand , that never 
 Pollution's grasp had breathed upon , for ever ! 
 
 But • ith a lion's heart and eagle eyes 
 She dash'd th'astonished \n retch upon the floor. 
 
CAIYTO TV. 59 
 
 He rose -like Satan in recovered might: — 1480 
 
 And thus he cried — « Now , Bertha , thou must die ! 
 »FareweIl , infuriate Dame; — vte meet no more!)) 
 He gave a parting curse ; and took his flight. 
 
 END OF CANTO IV. 
 
6o ODO. 
 
 CANTO V. 
 
 ..No 
 
 low, Bertlia , thou must die ! » the fatal tones 
 Hang on mine ear, though many a month of woe, (^) 
 Slow lingering onward since, has heard my moans : — 
 For scarce the words had parted , when a blow 
 Fell on my heart, which earth cannot restore: 
 A blow deep-sinking, to rebound no more ! — 
 
 Then mule became the Lyre; the trembling hand iA9<> 
 Shrunk from its strings ; the genial breeze , that fann'd 
 The flame ^\hich struck it , in chill clouds of tears 
 Died ; and inspiring Fancy fled my breast. 
 
 O Thou , who mid the night of wildering Fears , 
 While the raised arm of Malice knew no rest , 
 Thou, Hope heaven-beaming, who uert v. ont to shine 
 Still in my bosom ; in that speechless hour 
 Thou vanishedst ; and for thy light divine , 
 Thou didst pronounce , Despair must hence be mine ! 
 As if the voice of the Omniscient Power i5oo 
 
 Had spoke my mortal fate ; and said from high , 
 
 (i) The former Canto was finished towards the close of 
 May , 1822. The present Canto was commenced on 6 Nov. 
 1822. 
 
CANTO V. bl 
 
 ain this terrestial course thou art decreed 
 ))To toss in griefs unceasing till thou die ; 
 ))And each new w oe a following woe shall breed ! » 
 
 But yet into the unresisted pit 
 Of black and still Despondence my strong heart 
 Refused to sink for ever ; and by fit 
 And niighly efforts I began impart 
 A dawning ray of light , that through my frame 
 Ran cheering! — Kindled then a gentle flame i5io 
 
 In my half- withered limbs ; and thro' my veins 
 Circled the gathering glow in purple stains. 
 And now I sieze the lyre , that hung so long 
 Mute; and again I wake the plaintive song. 
 
 Bertha , thy lovely image , doom'd to death , 
 Too horror-struck to murmur , or to weep , 
 Revives before me. Scarce thy faultering breath 
 The sparks of life can save ; — for dread and deep 
 Strike Odo's \^ ords portentous on thy heart. — 
 To die ! — It is not sad to die ! — but die i520 
 
 A death of shame! upon the block to lay 
 The guiltless head; and then to feel the dart 
 Of scorn and infamy to mock the sigh ; 
 And prayers and tears with insult to repay ! 
 A soul of fire ; an angel's fortitude 
 Suffices not for this-; — though innocence 
 Self-conscious , may repell those insults rude; 
 An J though the sting of guilt may aggravate 
 
62 ODO. 
 
 The punishment that waits the dire offence 1 
 
 Faith says , that for the false awards of Man i53o 
 
 Heaven will restore the truth; and dissipate 
 
 Amid angelic airs the foul-breath'd tongue 
 
 Of human Calumny ! but who can scan 
 
 On earth ih'erroneous record ? And ne'er hung 
 
 On human lips the parting sigh of Death , 
 
 But that it whisper'd wiih the lingering breath , 
 
 The hope of kind remembrance (^); and the prayer 
 
 That censure miglt its conscious ashes spare! 
 
 Death by the severing axe ! and yet the blow 
 In its last pang embittered by the woe i54o • 
 
 Of shame surviving ! Soul of heavenly fire ; 
 Endurance, that no earthly dross could shake, 
 Would pale the yet unyielding light , and quake 
 Beneath tirinfliction , and desponding break 
 The holy vase , whose flames could bid aspire 
 Upward , to lose amid celestial joy - 
 
 The sounds earth-springing, ^\hich would else destroy! 
 
 Then Bertha sunk in that still deadly calm 
 Of breathless , black Despair , which has no balm. 
 Her stagnant faculties to all around , i55o 
 
 "Without , within , made no response ; her eye 
 Stood motionless with vacant glare ; no sound 
 
 [i] See Gray's fine stanzas beginning 
 
 <t For who to dumb Jbri^etjulness a prcj^. » 
 
CATYTO V. 63 
 
 Breathed from her lips ; the current seem*d to cease 
 
 Along her veins ; and every lineament 
 
 Of Death itself was there , except its peace ! 
 
 But , Hatred , canst thou , fiend accurst , relent , 
 When thou hast snuff'd the tainted gale of blood ? — 
 The doom-denouncing Court is met. In deep 
 Debate its secret councils held , a flood 
 
 Of hell-sprung tears , that seem'd his soul to steep i56o 
 In unaffected agony , descend 
 From furious Odo's ever-lyiner eyes ! 
 Quick at his nod the Hving proofs attend ; 
 Each death-designing word is veil'd in sighs. 
 
 Then seems the proof beyond the force of voice 
 Human to overthrow. A doubt again 
 Mercy and justice urge; but urge in vain. 
 »(0 hear th'accused , my Lords ! You have no choice ! 
 »The Prisoner must be heard ! » But Odo cried ; 
 »0 spare the sad dehnquent ! Spare her tears; 1670 
 
 »Spare the wild shrieks that virtue fall'n deride! 
 »Spare the mad sense that with Hell's torment hears 
 win one dread sentence death and endless shame ! 
 »The deed is past : the block , the axe , the flame 
 »Must wash it out : it is a mockery 
 )>To ask defence , no earthly power can give I 
 »It is not mercy ! Let the Princess die : 
 »And spare th'insulting forms , that have the name, 
 »But not the heart , of Justice ! — Hers be peace I 
 
64 ODO. 
 
 »The forethought she has not a day to live, i58o 
 
 wWill but the troubles of her soul increase ! » 
 
 He ended : all was silent : fear and grief 
 Stunn'd every sense but Odo's : the decree 
 Pass'd as if Satan sat the grisly Chief 
 Upon the seat of Judgment. — « Bertha dies 
 »To morrow ! Deep within the Castle be 
 ^Prepared the solemn implements ; and rise 
 »The sable scaffold ! Lonely , secret , still , 
 »Be the dread act of retribution done ! » 
 
 A shudder, and a shriek supprest, begun ^^QO 
 
 In cold damp trembling impulses to thrill 
 Thro' every vein but Odo's. — Odo mute 
 Heard the death-sentence utler'd. At the root 
 His fierce revenge had struck : and to his heart 
 Did the dire words a joy infernal dart ! 
 
 O thou, who in thine iron- cinctured cell, 
 Sunk in despondence , dost the minutes tell , 
 Deserted , helpless , earth-fall'n Bertha ! thee 
 No soothing angel tells thy destiny! 
 
 Hid is thy coming fate ! perchance 'tis hid 1600 
 
 In mercy! dull, and motionless, and dark 
 Creeps on the heavy hour , that to the last 
 Conducts thine ebbing life ! — «That sound ! — and hark ! 
 »That muffled sound repeated ! — it ii past ! 
 »Ah ! — now it beats! — again ! — again! — again ! 
 »Tis in the little court , these twilight bars 
 
CANTO V. 
 
 65 
 
 »Look dim upon ! — again ! — O , I must strain 
 
 »My eyes to trace that dismal sound : — it jars 
 
 wThis massy floor of stone : half underneath 
 
 »Its beat reverberates: mystic and low 1610 
 
 wWorkmen their notes lugubrious seem to breathe. 
 
 »What are the forms I catch? Ah, wherefore throw 
 
 »Upon that lifted stage of wood a pall 
 
 »Of deep funereal hue , as if to call 
 
 »Death to his dance of horrors ! I can look 
 
 )>No more upon that sight : tho' I could brook 
 
 »To hear the monarch's summons , if he come 
 
 »In common guise to close our earthly doom , 
 
 »And joy to meet him ; not with arm of blood 
 
 »And eye of vengeance, is my soul upraised 1620 
 
 »His presence to encounter! I have stood 
 
 wFirm amid earthly conflicts : I have gazed 
 
 wUndazzled on earth's luxuries : and Death , 
 
 »Would he but end my woes , were hail'd by mel 
 
 »But if he set my sun in blood , the breath 
 
 »Of human shame will human confines flee ; 
 
 »And round my spirit wandering , in a cloud 
 
 »Mid heaven's empyreal ways its glory shroud ! 
 
 )>That sable mantle wider drav/n ! the pole 
 
 wLifts its high pendent sides ! my shuddering soul i63o 
 
 »Shrinks from the dismal scene : — a misty veil 
 
 sPresses mine eyes : I fall : 1 faint : I die ! » 
 
 5 
 
56 ojjo. 
 
 Down on the floor sank Bertha : the dread tale 
 Had open*d to her heart : the piercing sigh 
 Of earth's last wishes trembled thro' her frame ; — 
 Then ceased all human consciousness : the flame 
 Expired of mortal hopes and mortal woes. 
 Quick the Guard's ears ; and quick th' officious care , 
 That ere th' appointed hour would interpose, 
 (To her sad couch committed,) they would spare 1640 
 Yet a few lingering hours of earth's abode ! 
 But still on Bertha pitying Heaven bestow'd 
 The sweet oblivious draught that strew'd the hours ^ 
 Which intervened , with visionary flowers ! 
 A. Spirit came ; and led her /wandering dreams ; 
 And then she seem'd to sit by Eden's streams , 
 Ere Sin that garden's lovely haunts had stain'dj 
 While all to harmony and bliss was strain'd ; 
 And all was love celestial ; and no fears 
 Of human frailty broke upon the joy, i65o 
 
 ( Full in itself ; nor mingled yet with tears ; ) 
 That could the fleeting race of day employ, 
 Kor ever with its ceaseless raptures cloy. 
 «0 linger not on earth , » the Spirit said ; 
 c'Thou art too good for earth ! Amid the moils 
 »Of human conflict thy bright wings are spread 
 »Too wide and airy to commit thy toils 
 »In struggling thy etherlal force : the dew 
 »Of earthly vapours taints thy pinions : thou 
 
CANTO V. 67 
 
 »Art formed to soar to those celestial choirs , 1660 
 
 »Where round Heaven's throne are struck celestial lyres i 
 
 »But Heaven would not unsought be won : the fire 
 
 i>Thou must endure ; and clap thy burning wings , 
 
 »When the flame upward to thy bosom springs : 
 
 »When inwards fierce and quick the torments dartj 
 
 »And strike the mortal movements of thine heart ; 
 
 wSerene ; untrembling ; unassailable ; 
 
 »Smiling thou must exclaim ; » it is Heaven's will 1 
 
 »Then clap those wings amid the rising blaze ; 
 
 »And reach the region of eternal days ! » 1670 
 
 Th' angelic voice was trembling on her ear; 
 Her pallid frame in sweet delirium breathed; 
 Wh£n cross her closed eye the spectre Fear 
 Came shuddering like a Fiend : his form he writhed 
 As if in agony ; and on his tongue 
 Died a few words inaudible ; below 
 Again the workman's muffled sound beat slow : 
 She started ! cross those walls of silence rung 
 That still repeated dismal sound more loud : 
 Then from her couch in wild affright She sprung : i68o 
 Thro the dull iron'd window seem'd a crowd 
 Beneath , ( upon a sable stage now grown 
 To form complete , ) all whispering as in tears : 
 
 And then she heard a shriek suppress'd, a moan 
 
 Of female horror : then distinct her ears 
 
 Caught the dire sounds of « Bertha ! — cruel fate ! 
 
68 ODO. 
 
 »Must Bertha die on perjured proofs ? » No more 
 She heard : but sunk insensate on the floor ! 
 
 O blest insensibility! too late, 
 Unhappy virtuous Bertha, to thy heart X^QO 
 
 Th* ineffable decree cannot be told ! — 
 Pass a* few hours 5 and be at once unroll'd 
 The scene of horror ! or , oh , ratij^er ope 
 Those once-bright eyes no more ! be this thy fate I 
 Death has with thee already had his part ! 
 Rest , angel rest , no more to wake on earth ! 
 Rest , in thy native Heaven to take a second birth ! 
 
 Alas, not yet the pangs of death are past! 
 The pulse beats faint ; a dim red tinge again 
 Crosses the pallid cheek; with fear aghast 1700 
 
 Feebly those eyelids lift their veil: in vain 
 The wandering sight essays to ascertain 
 Objects around her; — still the giddy brain 
 Turns round ; and all is mist , and fear , and pain ! 
 
 On the lone couch her dying limbs were laid : 
 Dark was the barr'd apartment ; at her feet 
 Stood a sad Female , o*er whose cheek were spread 
 Drops of half-stifled tears; her bosom beat; 
 Inaudibly her faultering lips essay'd 
 
 T' address the wretched Bertha, whom Despair 171Q 
 
 Now rendered calm ; within her lofty soul 
 The heroine's hopes and fears retired: and care 
 Of earth no longer touch'd her; but within 
 
.TTO 'CANTO V. 69 
 
 Visions of glory thro* her fancy stole ; 
 
 And her blest spirit fled this world of sin. 
 
 Then Heaven bestow'd th' oblivious balm of sleep , 
 
 And her sweet slumbers lasted still and deep. 
 
 Till the first rays of Morn began to peep 
 
 Thro' the dim iron lattice of her cell. 
 
 Now all was mute , nor did a whisper tell 1720 
 
 The tale of horror to the day decreed. 
 But there was music in the air, heard slow 
 Alone by Bertha's ears : it seem'd to plead 
 With voice of Hope at Heaven's all-bounteous throne, 
 Which with excess of light began to glow ; 
 And then it rose to a triumphant tone ; 
 ((Death has no stings for thee , » it said , (( but frees 
 >>Thy spirit from its dome of mortal woe» 
 »Rise , and exulting meet the dreaded blow , 
 »Rise and with us th' angelic chaplet sieze ! » — i73o 
 
 The . castle-clock struck seven ; and then a toll 
 Of the Cathedral-Bell thro' every court 
 Ran with an hollow echo ; while the roll 
 Of muffled drum announced the dire report 
 Of death-hke preparation. (( Hark ! it calls ! 
 »For me that summons , » Bertha cried , (( for me ; 
 »Angels have told me , tis for me ! ye walls , 
 >iBe witness , Heaven has warn'd me ! I am free 1 
 »It is the note of freedom ! but the pain ' 
 »0f a few minutes ; and my grief i& o'er ! 1740 
 
70 oDo, 
 
 wAnother toll ! — now steps approach my door ; 
 
 »And nearer beats that muffled drum again ! » 
 
 Now the door opens : in funereal pall 
 
 Two females entering before Bertha fall : 
 
 Speechless they cling around her trembling knees : 
 
 But Bertha, taught by Heaven, no speech demands; 
 
 «I know your call; and bow to Heaven's decrees: 
 
 »I seek no frail support from earthly hands ; 
 
 wFirm to the scaffold I can go ; and smile 
 
 »Upon that axe which can release this heart 1700 
 
 »From wrongs which never can its name defile ! » 
 
 One short half hour of preparation left 
 The mournful messengers announced j — «tho' brief, 
 nit is enough for me,» said Bertha; « grief 
 j)Can never end too soon : I Am bereft 
 »Of every earthly comfort ; and I sigh 
 »To be transported , where no cruelty 
 »Nor wrong of Man my* immortal soul can reach : 
 «Where Innocence can refuge fihd ; and Triith 
 wNo human perfidy will e'er impeach ! 1760 
 
 ))Give me the veil of Death, but not of Ruth; 
 »Smoothe these dishevel'd locks ; in Order place 
 wThese ruffled garments, that of woe bespeak 5 
 »And wash the tears from this distained chefek ; 
 »And let this victim form bear forth the grace 
 »Of the deep calm , that now within me reigtis ! 
 »Then call the Priest , and let me bieiid in prayer 
 
CATVTO V. 71 
 
 >To Him , who from his throne of mercy deigns 
 
 »Protecting wings to those, whom Man can dare 
 
 wWith unrelenting fangs of hate to tear! » 1780 
 
 The Priest was near at hand : the veil of Death 
 O'er Bertha's once-bright form was thrown ; with slow 
 And mournful steps advanced the Holy Man : 
 « Lady , thou know'st of Heaven's decree : we bow ^ 
 »A11 mortals , as behoves , to its behests ! 
 ))Mysterious , Lady, is th' Almighty's plan; 
 ))And dark the schemes that rule in human breasts: — 
 »But all is pure above ; and no disguise 
 »Will there avail ; nor will th' imputed wrong 
 »Weigh down the fated bliss: — thou canst arise 1790 
 
 »Untouch'd by earth's inflictions , if belong 
 »Th' unspotted heart to Thee : — if free from stain , 
 »Is only known to Him and thee ! then wake 
 »To Him in holy truth devotion's strain ; 
 »And to his bosom He thy soul will take ! » 
 
 A faint hue in her faded cheek arose ; 
 And from her eye a feeble radiance gleam'd : 
 It was the glow of innocence , that beam'd 
 At doubt's rude insult : « Count , O Priest , my woes , 
 vAs thick, and e'en as hopeless as thou wilt: 1700 
 
 »But mid the direful number place not guilt ! 
 »If Earth was once my Eden , my late years 
 »Not guilt of mine has made a vale of tears ! » 
 
 « Lady , compose thy spirit ; moments fly ! 
 
72 ODO. 
 
 »Before this crucifix , whicli shall redeem 
 
 »Those faults which flesh is heir to , lowly kneel ! 
 
 »Here place uii trembling faith ; and thou shall feel 
 
 »The calm of Heaven within thee , ere thou die : 
 
 »Anlicipated rays of Heaven will stream 
 
 )>To light thee upward to thy native sky: i8i© 
 
 j)And if thou hast been wrong'd , the wrong will fall 
 
 »Where the guilt lies , and the funereal pall 
 
 >^ Willi draw to shew an angel's relics laid 
 
 >3Circled with glory in her mortal bed ! » • 
 
 Again the clock ! again the mournful Bell 
 ToU'd out a deeper, slower, hollower knell! 
 They knelt: the hurried prayer; the mutter'd tone; 
 Th' attendant's tear convulsed , and stifled groan , 
 Pass'd in a moment; — thrice the dread Bell flung 
 Its double strokes ; that thro' the castle rung; — • 1820 
 
 The Victim needed then no other tongue ! 
 
 Forth led she now her guides ; she their support; 
 Rather than they supports to her: a start. 
 And moment's sliudder , as before her eyes 
 The dread array of Death uprose , her frame *■ 
 Convulsed; and then involuntary cries 
 Ran , deeper as more stifled , thro' the Court ; 
 And groans of ire , and murmurs low of shame: 
 But Bertha's soul already was in Heaven : 
 Earth and its frail accompaniments before i83o 
 
 Her lifted sight were fled ; and she could soar 
 
CANTO V. 73 
 
 Already thither, where to be forgiven, 
 And recoiiipensed for earthly fault and woe, 
 Celestial voices did the pledge bestow ! 
 
 Pale , but yet lovely and serene , her form 
 All eyes beheld with wonder mute , and breath ' 
 
 Suspended: — as before a bursting storm 
 There is a frightful stillness , now a pause, 
 E'en as if Nature's self was crost by Death , 
 Arrested every pulse: «To human laws » 1840 
 
 Then cried a trembling voice , « all earthly deeds , 
 »E'en of great Princes, must submit : thy cause , 
 »0 Bertha , ( late our Queen , how fallen now ! ) 
 »The scale of painful Justice has weigh'd down ; 
 »And here thou to thy fate art call'd to bow ! — 
 »Once faithful thought , now to thy bridal bed 
 »Unfaithful found , not e'en a sacred crown 
 »Can save thy guilt! if thou behold'st with dread 
 »That expiating block , a moment's blow 
 » Will end thy suffering; and the God of All, i85o 
 
 »Who reigns in mercy , will attend thy call ! » 
 
 Bertha stood motionless , as turn'd to stone ; 
 "With eyes to heaven upraised : clasp'd were her hands ; 
 And not a tear would flow : but when a groan 
 Ran round the scaffold , her reviving soul 
 Its fortitude recover'd : — weeping stands 
 Her train .around her : from her sable stole 
 Lifting her lily arm , in lowly voice , 
 
74 ODO. 
 
 Tender , yet firm , she cries : « Ye People , hear ! 
 
 »Thou Minister, whom Justice wrong'd employs, 1800 
 
 »Attend my dying words ! — I am as free 
 
 ))From the base stain of this unspoken crime, 
 
 ))Which never yet reach'd my unspotted ear, 
 
 >)As Angels , who in their etherial clime 
 
 »Live unassail'd by Earth's impurity ! 
 
 »But willingly I die , since now my name 
 
 ))Has , e'en in falsehood , been allied to shame ! » 
 
 « O spare her ! » cried a murmuring whisper , « spare 1 
 »Slie sure is guiltless!)) — Then the drum beat low, 
 To drown the murmur: « Princess, now prepare 1870 
 
 ))To close thy sorrows ; )) said a mournful tongue : — 
 Down on her knees the victim sunk : around 
 Her eyes , all tearless , was a fillet bound : — 
 Then came the waving scymitar ; and flung 
 Its deadly aim ; and with a mighty blow 
 Sever'd that trunkless head , where Heaven had cast 
 Its mental radiance but a moment past ! 
 
 A shriek broke from the Court : the deep Bell toll'd : 
 The muffled drum again its murmur roll'd : 
 And all went home to weep; and curses pray 1880 
 
 On Odo's blood-stain'd name ; and vows to make 
 That his usurp'd perfidious reckless sway 
 All human efforts should conspire to shake ! 
 
 END OF CANTO V. 
 
CANTO VT. 75 
 
 CANTO VI. 
 
 jLJLlbert , consigned to gloom arid to despair , 
 
 Immured within his darksome chamber lived : 
 
 He spent his nights in sighs , his days in prayer; 
 
 And Odo's hand the teins of Power received. 
 
 All sensual joys, that rank and wealth could gain, 
 
 Were Odo's passion $ e'en till luxury 
 
 Became from its excess a feverish pain; 1890 
 
 And crosses he fot very change would try* 
 
 But crosses came too soon : the discontent , 
 Ldftg hid , began to swell : the tempest , fed 
 Within its cave , began to cloud the sky. 
 The Court was into dismal factions rent : 
 Yet whosoe'er each varied Party led , 
 Revenge of Odo was the general cry. 
 
 Fair Bertha , ( mourn'd at first , ) each added day 
 Mourn'd with more calto devotion: shrines were raised; 
 And vows address'd , as to a Saint in Heaven; 1900 
 
 And often , as upon the evening*- ray 
 The eye of idol-superstition gazed , 
 Some pillowy cloud first brighten'd ; then was riven 
 Asunder ; and in midst a Shape arose , 
 
76 oDo. • 
 
 Like Bertha's , but more fair and brilliant; crown'd 
 
 With dazzling brightness : then melodious sound 
 
 Of choirs angelic seem'd to sing around : 
 
 «Look up ! behold the end of human woes , 
 
 »When virtue bears the stroke of human wrong j 
 
 »Yet raised aloft by Faith with smiling eye, 19 1 o 
 
 »Can view the scymilar , that bids her die ; 
 
 wAnd , hail'd above , ascend to heaven in song ! » 
 
 Thus fed the love for Bertha's name, it grew 
 Till the deep passion spread through all the realm: 
 In whispers now to Albert's ear it flew , 
 
 E'en where in lonely grief he shunn'd the helm. 
 « Fair Innocence has bled ; and blood-stain'd Crime 
 
 wReigns in the giddiness of upstart power ! 
 
 ))Albert , arise ! the sword of vengeance wave ! 
 
 »See Truth unveiling by the hand of Time ! X920 
 
 »The very Heavens warn Odo of his hour ! 
 
 •Justice may yet be granted to the grave ! » 
 
 The gathering cries swell'd louder : Odo heard* 
 
 Fear siezed his guilty bosom; aud he fled : 
 
 Proofs were unfolded; and the call preferr'd 
 
 For retribution : — then afar was spread 
 
 Thro' Europe's realms by proclamation loud 
 
 The tale of Beriha by false charge consign'd 
 
 To ignominious death: — and now, enshrined 
 
 In Love's and Pity's hearts, fair Bertha's name i93o 
 
 Lived sacred ; and to Bertha prayers were vow'd , 
 
CANTO VI. 77 
 
 Wherever suffering Virtue raised a flame 
 Of emulous glory in the female breast. 
 
 O Bertha, when at eve hosannahs loud 
 The voice of praise and gratitude attest 
 To Heaven s immortal throne , how swells the prayer 
 By pealing organ lifted , that thy fame 
 Truth to its spotless splendor may repair j 
 And Odo stand to all the world confest 
 Alike destroyer of thy name and life I 194^ 
 
 But Odo lives amid the raging strife 
 Of Fear and Sorrow and Regret and Shame, 
 And visions wild, and torments of the frame! — 
 In what dark cell hides he his endless woe ? 
 Sought , but not found ; — eluding yet the foe , 
 Watchful with vengeance to pursue his crime, 
 He skulks unknown ! But better were the time, 
 When on the scaffold he should expiate 
 The deeds that must for ever mark his fate ! 
 For what is death , when with the agonies 1 9^0 
 
 Of life like his compared ? — O mark his cries ! — 
 ( Fancy still hears them ! ) — his convulsive sighs ; 
 His burning tears; the phantoms that his eyes 
 Still gaze at , yet would shun ; — the pointed sword 
 Over his trembling head by a fine hair 
 Suspended ; the blood-streaming bosom gored 
 With ghastly wounds ; yet destined life to bear! 
 The dread of endless punishment to come j 
 
78 ODO. , 
 
 Yet mad with torments of his present doom ! 
 
 All hopeless horror ! — and if there be light , i960 
 
 Tis of eternal flames to blast his sight ! 
 
 O Albert , are thy torments less ? thy Queen , 
 The mistress of thy bosom , from thine arms 
 Torn guiltless , on the scaffold doom'd to die ? 
 Haunts she thy slumbers with reproachful mien ? 
 Does shuddering Conscience wake Regret's alarms 
 In thy torn soul ? and will Contrition's sigh 
 Wipe out thine heart's disease ? The Priest is there , 
 To soothe thy pangs , too just , by soothing prayer ! 
 List to his voice ! In yonder lohely vale ^91^ 
 
 He bids thee found an Holy Sisterhood , 
 "Whose prayers pour'd out in deepest solitude , 
 From age to age may rise upon the gale 
 From altars dim but with religious light ; 
 And plead to Heaven forgiveness of thy wrong 
 In fervent vows and everlasting song ! 
 
 Now rise the sacred piles ! beside a stream 
 In solitary woods a smiling beam 
 From Heaven points out the chosen spot ; endow'd 
 With fertile lands , in spires and turrets proud , 1980 
 
 Beneath the workman's hand the Structure grows 
 Quick and stupendous in the umbrageous close ; 
 Till , as if glorious of the duty done , 
 Its top , sky- lifted , glitters in the sun ! 
 
 Nor yet was Heaven appeased : with equal hAst« 
 
CANTO IV. 79 
 
 In prodigality of wealth was placed 
 
 A neighbouring Dome of Monks : and altars blazed ; 
 
 And morn to eve the pious hymn was raised 
 
 In intercession to offended Heaven ! 
 
 And far and wide were saintliest Brethren sought, 1990 
 
 Whose hearts and tongues with truths divine were fraught. 
 
 Then distant on the wings of Fame was driven 
 
 The praise of this religion-gifted Train : 
 
 But most a voice of an unearthly strain 
 
 In trembling undulation rose above 
 
 The rest , whene'er the midnight song awoke ! 
 
 In fervent tones of seeming zeal it broke 
 
 To raptures bathed in tears of holy love! 
 
 His Brethren listened : but with wild amaze 
 
 Mysterious fear withheld the' half whisper'd praise. 20O0 
 
 From day to day the growing wonder swell'd : 
 
 Louder and yet more piercing rose the song: 
 
 Strange was the human vigour that upheld 
 
 A heart so passionate , a voice so strong I 
 
 It was a midnight dark : the shrines around , 
 Blazed all the lamps; in mellower deeper tones 
 Breathed out the pealing organ ; when a sound 
 Half-struggling , closed the holy songster's life : 
 His quivering lips just held a moment's strife ; 
 Then moved no more : within his pallid frame 2010 
 
 All earthly consciousness had ceased: then fear 
 Struck to the heart , and . mourning met the ear. 
 
80 ODO. 
 
 And when the cowl withdrawn , and vestments bare , 
 
 Display'd the songter's form , a loud exclaim 
 
 Of horror ran across the choir ; and shook 
 
 Nave , isles , and altars , as a thunderstroke : 
 
 With eyes half-blinded the sad Brethren gazed 
 
 Upon* those livid lineaments : — ^ amazed , 
 
 They traced the features so diguised of late ! 
 
 Tw^as Odo's self with sacrilegious guile 2020 
 
 Had sought in holy robes to fly his fate ; 
 
 And tainted with his blood-stain'd hands the Pile 
 
 Raised to appease the victims of his crime ; 
 
 And seek by efforts of effacing time, 
 
 In purity of heart and truth of tears , 
 
 The slow redemption of eternal years ! — 
 
 And here th' imperfect strain must close : too long 
 Already has ran on the tedious song; 
 Tho* broken oft, and oft resumed in vain: 
 For Age my hand enfeebles ; and the glow 2o3o 
 
 Of youthful fancy bids no more the strain 
 In currents of congenial splendor flow. 
 
 Thou Lyre, companion of my thorny way, 
 From very boyhood , thro' a life of pain , 
 Still sounding while the vulture tore his prey 
 With talons buried deep within my breast, 
 Wot yet we part for ever ! be at rest 
 A little while ; and if my hoary years 
 Are yet prolonged , we will not part in tears I 
 
CANTO IV. 81 
 
 Or rather never part ! the self-same grave 2040 
 
 Shall hold us both : and when at evening-hour 
 
 Twilight her mantle o'er the scene shall wave ; 
 
 And fond Remembrance comes to drop a flower 
 
 Over my mouldering relics ; from beneath 
 
 Thy strings a tender mournful note shall breathe : 
 
 Then all the visions of the Past again 
 
 Shall in the Mourner's trembling heart revive ; 
 
 And saved by thee , to shew complaints were vain , 
 
 My name be cherished still , as if alive ! 2o4q 
 
 END OF THE POEM. 
 
82 AilGUMENT. 
 
 ODO COUNT OF LINGEN. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 C A N T O I. 
 
 Xl-LBERT , a Sovereign Prince of Germany , having mar- 
 ried. Bertha, a beautiful and amiable Princess of an 
 equally Royal House , commits the management of his 
 afifairs of State to his Minister and Favourite Odd Count 
 OF LiNGEN , a man of great ambition and guile ^ who 
 soon forms the scheme to undermine his Master's throne, 
 and place himself in his room. For this purpose Odo . 
 resolves to get rid of Bertha , who had great influence 
 over her Sovereign's heart and councils. Hints are given 
 her to be upon her guard : but she at first rejects these 
 surmises indignantly. At length she begins to suspect 
 the treachery , which she imagines she sees lurking 
 beneath his outward smiles and professions of attach- 
 ment : and she embraces an opportunity , which soon 
 occurs , to put Albert on his guard against this intriguing 
 Servant. 
 
AUGITMENT. g3 
 
 CANTO II. 
 The Prince now turns his searching eye upon the 
 accused Odo , who attempts to flatter him by hollow 
 and deceitful praises of the charms and virtues of Bertha; 
 and who succeeds in satisfying his Master ; and in still re- 
 taining his confidence ; and thus almost counterhalances 
 the tender eloquence of the Queen , whose smiles are now 
 met by momentary doubts entertained by her Lord, A 
 year ensues of hollow joy , interrupted on Bertlia's part 
 by many crossing fears and gloomy presages. Bertha 
 grows pale : and the news of her altered looks reaches 
 her brother , Earl Raymokd , a neighbouring Prince , 
 who, to relieve his suspence, makes a visit to his sister 
 in disguise. Bertha imparts to him the cause of her unea- 
 siness : but intreats him to hasten his departure from 
 her , lest his visit should be known , and augment the 
 disease of Albert's mind. But when her brother is gone, 
 she gives vent to her sorrow ; and the tears , in which 
 she generally meets her Consort , serve only to confirm 
 bis anxieties ; and throw him still deeper under the in- 
 fluence of the false Odo , who by a faint and insidious 
 defence of the Queen purposely adds poison to his 
 Master's bosom. At length this base man , having duly 
 prepared the Prince's mind, artfully unfolds a charge of 
 infidelity against the Queen , till Albert , having his curio- 
 sity inflamed beyond endurance , forces him to promise 
 to unfold the pretended secret. 
 
84 ARGUMENT. 
 
 C A IV T O III. 
 
 The third Canto opens with the disclosure of this 
 secret , founded on the private interview of Bertha with 
 her brother Earl Raymond : which Odo and his spies 
 represent as an adulterous assignation with a lover. At 
 this intelligence Albert loses his senses : and Odo , as- 
 suming to himself the direction of State-Affairs , issues 
 an Order for the confinement of Bertha in a lone chamber 
 in the prison of the Palace , upon this charge of pre- 
 tended adultery. Bertha at the first moment of her im- 
 prisonment is insensible of what has befallen her ; for 
 the sViock of Albert's madness had now bereaved her 
 of her own senses. When she recovers her intellect, she 
 perceives with astonishment and horror , that she is alone 
 in a prison , confined by iron bars ; and her door watched 
 by out-side guards. The Prince at length revives to some 
 seeming sense , though still in reality in a state of stupor: 
 Odo then calls a Council , and prefers a regular charge 
 of Treason against the Princess. The unhappy Sufferer 
 being now left in her solitary apartment totally igno- 
 rant of the cause of what has befallen her; the door at 
 length opens, and a strange Lady enters. Bertha siezes 
 the occasion to ask , why she is thus confined ; and of 
 what crime she is accused? The Lady answers by de- 
 ceitful pretences of false pity ; and assuming Bertha's 
 guilt, apologises for her fall. Bertha disdainfully rejects 
 
ARGUMENT. 85 
 
 this mystery and mockerj ; and relates a dream which 
 had tormented her; and in which she had imagined that 
 she was condemned to the hlock on a false charge. The 
 
 Lady answers hy suggesting the necessity of reliance on 
 Odo's favour, to save herself. Bertha replies, that she is 
 
 too well aware of Odo's wiles to put her trust in him; 
 
 and accuses the Lady of being his emissary; at which 
 
 the Lady quits her in anger, declaring that she leaves 
 
 her to her fate. 
 
 C A If T O IV. 
 
 Murmurs, discontent, and gloom, prevail in the Court. 
 Odo pretends to sympathise with the general sorrow. A 
 note is sent to Bertha , announcing a messenger. Odo 
 himself then enters her prison-room , and addresses her by 
 soliciting her con6dence : she protests that she has no 
 secrets: he renews his offers and assurances of attach- 
 ment : she demands to see her Consort : Odo answers 
 hy insinuating that she had already abused her power 
 over him : Bertha denies the charge with- indignation ; 
 and in her turn accuses Odo : to which he rejoins by 
 the horrible mockery and insult of a licentious attach- 
 ment to her on his own part , and a solicitation of mu- 
 tual love as the price of his intercession to save her. 
 
g6 ARGUMENT. 
 
 This she rejects with haughty and magnanimous scorn ; 
 and when he attempts to kiss her hand, throws him from 
 her with a fury which makes him leave her with im- 
 precations and the most revengeful threats of destruction. 
 
 C A If T O V. 
 
 The fatal denunciation of death with which Odo 
 quilted Bertha , dwells on her mind. She grieves not 
 at death itself; hut at the thought of dyin^ in a dis- 
 graceful manner. She now sinks into the torpor of des- 
 pair. Meanwhile Odo again summons the Council to enter 
 upon the charge of Treason against her : and heing 
 furnished with the seeming proof of the secret inter- 
 view to which his suborned witnesses give the construc- 
 tion necessary to support the crime , he manages so as 
 to procure a judgment of death against her, without 
 giving her an opportunity of heing heard in her de- 
 fence. The Court accordingly pronounce , hut reluc- 
 tantly and with the utmost grief, the sentence that she 
 shall be executed on the morrow. Bertha remains in her 
 cell , sunk in despondence ; and insensible of what is 
 going on. At length she is aroused by hearing strange 
 sounds of preparation in the Court, below her window. 
 
V 
 
 ARGUMET^T. 87 
 
 Her curiosity is awakened ; slie looks , and sees work^uen 
 in the act of erecting a scaffold: and lience anticipating 
 her doom , she foints ; and for a time all human cons- 
 ciousness leaves her : but sinking at last into a calm 
 sleep , dreams visit her , and comfort her. She wakes , 
 and again hears the mournful sound of the workmen 
 below : and then distinguishes her own name pronounced 
 as if in pity and lamentation. Her feelings now over- 
 whelm her , and she becomes senseless. She is waked 
 in the morning by the mournful toll of the Cathedral- 
 Bell : two Females then enter, and announce her doom 
 to her : one half hour of preparation only is allowed : 
 the priest attends : she is led to the scaffold : she de- 
 clares her innocence in an address to the people : she 
 is ordered to kneel. ; and one blow of the scymitar 
 severs her head from her body. 
 
 C A ]Y T O VI. 
 
 Albert now consigns himself to gloom : and Odo rules 
 in unrestrained power. But discontent prevails : haired 
 of him is universally cherished; and vengeance is vowed 
 against him. All lament Bertha , and venerate her me- 
 mory. At length whispers reach the ear of Albeit, that 
 
88 ARGUMENT. 
 
 Bertha was innocent ; and cries for retribution on the 
 ^—falsehood of Odo pervade the realm. Odo himself at 
 length takes the alarm ; and flies. He hides himself 
 successfully ; but the tornaents of his conscience are 
 alone an excruciating punishment. Albert also is affected 
 by the deepest regrets. To appease the anger of Heaven 
 the Priests advise the Prince to found a rich Nunnery 
 and rich Monastery to pray for the soul of Bertha. 
 The Prince complies ; and collects far and wide members 
 of the Order most distinguished for their piety wisdom 
 and acquirements. The service therefore at this new 
 Foundation becomes renowned all over Europe for the 
 manner in which it is performed : above all , the Sacred 
 Music and Vocal part of this service are most distin- 
 guished ; and of the voices there is one , of which the 
 tones astonish all ears , — even of the Brotherhood them- 
 selves. There is usually a midnight service; and at last 
 an occasion occurs, in which this Voice rises into such 
 tones as excell even itself. All are rapt with wonder; 
 when the Voice suddenly ceases; and the Songster ex- 
 pires in a groan. His cowl and vestments are removed ; 
 and then for the first time with horror and amazement 
 the Priests under this disguise discover Odo , who had 
 thus intruded himself into the Order, ta escape justice; 
 and by this intrusion had defiled the holy Institution, 
 raised to counteract the effects of his crimes. 
 
 3o Jatu 1824. 
 
NOTES. 89 
 
 ODO , COUNT OF LINGEN. 
 
 N o T :e I. 
 
 The Story of Odo Count of Lingen was suggested hy a 
 combination of the two following historical incidents. 
 
 I. 
 
 LOUIS DE BAVlfeRE II , LE SEVERE. 
 
 « 1253. Louis II, C^) surnommd le Severe. » — L'an 
 1256 une jalousie mal fondde le porta a faire mourir, 
 le i8 Janvier, Marie, C^*) fiUe de Henri II, due de 
 Brabant , sa premiere femme , par la main du bourreau, 
 ( e'est ce qui lui m^rita le surnom trop douK, de Severe.) 
 Pour expier ce forfait , il fit bdtir , par le conseil du 
 Pape , Tan 1266, Tabbaje Cistercienne de Furstenfeld, 
 
 ( * ) Pere de Louis, TEmpereur, par sa troisieme femme, Mathiide 
 fille de rEmpereur Rodolphe. 
 
 (**) Soeur de Henri III, Due de Brabant, qui fut pere de Marie, 
 femme de Philippe III , Roi 4& France. 
 
90 NOTES. 
 
 sur la riviere d'Ammer, en Baviere. On voit encore sur 
 les murs du cloitre, au rapport du Butkens, le distique 
 suivaut qui atleste sa fondation, 
 
 « Conjugis innocuae fusi monumenta cruoris : 
 Pro culpa pretiuin olaustra sacrata vides. » 
 
 UArt. de verifier les Dates ^ 
 i^oU XVI. p. 128. 
 
 II. 
 
 The circumstance of the false accuser, and the mode 
 taken by the Erolher to ascertarn lhis/AisAer?s innocence, 
 is borrowed from the following incident, 
 
 1261. JEAN I, DUG DE BRABANT, DIT LE 
 VICTORIEUX. 
 
 n L'an 1277 , la Reine de France , {^) soeur du due .lean, 
 due de Brabant, accusee par Pierre de la Brosse d'avoir em- 
 poissone le Prince Louis , son beau-fils , pour faire rej^ner 
 ses propres enfants , est renfermde dans un chateau. Tandis 
 qu*on informe contre elle , le due , instruit de son mal- 
 heur , vient la trouver deguisd en cordelier, Tinterroge ^ 
 
 (*) Marie, femme de Philippe III , Roi de France. 
 
NOTES. 9 1 
 
 et se convainc de son innocence par ses responses. De 
 la s'^tant rendu 4 Paris en habit ordinaire , il d^fie au 
 combat singulier , en presence du roi Philippe le Hardi, 
 quiconque ose accuser la Reine , la fait declarer inno- 
 cente sur ce qui personne n'a la hardicsse de rdpondre 
 au ddfi, et obtient que la Brosse^ dejk detenu en prison 
 pour d'autres crimes , soit pendu au gibet de Montfaucon. 
 Mais ce Prince et ce Comte d'Artois se desbonorerent 
 €n repaissant ses yeux du spectacle de Texecution. » (^) 
 
 Ibid, vol, X.1V. /?. 98. 
 
 NOTE II. 
 
 This poem was begun at Florence on 20 Nov. 1819 ; — 
 laid aside ; — and resumed at long intervals in 1821 , 
 182^, and 1823. 
 
 *^^^< 
 
 (♦) Due Jean mourut 1^3^. 
 
By the Same Author. 
 
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