Elizabeth Barrett Browning - The Rhyme lyrics

Broad the forests stood
(I read) on the hills of Linteged
   Toll slowly
And three hundred years had stood
Mute adown each hoary wood
 Like a full heart having prayed

And the little birds sang east, and
The little birds sang west
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And but little thought was theirs
Of the silent antique years
 In the building of their nest

Down the sun dropt large and red
On the towers of Linteged
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Lance and spear upon the height
Bristling strange in fiery light
 While the castle stood in shade

There the castle stood up black with
The red sun at it's back toll slowly
Like a sullen smouldering pyre with
A top that flickers fire
 When the wind is on it's track

And five hundred archers tall did
Besiege the castle wall
   Toll slowly
And the castle, seethed in blood
Fourteen days and nights had stood
 And to-night was near it's fall

Yet thereunto, blind to doom
Three months since, a bride did come
   Toll slowly
One who proudly trod the floors and
Softly whispered in the doors
"  May good angels bless our home"

Oh, a bride of queenly eyes
With a front of constancies:
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Oh, a bride of cordial mouth where
The untired smile of youth
 Did light outward it's own sighs!

'T was a Duke's fair orphan-girl
And her uncle's ward the Earl
   Toll slowly
Who betrothed her twelve years old, for
The sake of dowry gold
 To his son Lord Leigh the churl

But what time she had made good
All her years of womanhood
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Unto both these lords of Leigh
Spake she out right sovranly
 "My will runneth as my blood

"And while this same blood makes red
This same right hand's veins, " she said
Toll slowly
"'T is my will, as lady free, not
To wed a lord of Leigh
 But Sir Guy of Linteged"

The old Earl he smilèd smooth
Then he sighed for wilful youth
   Toll slowly "Good my niece
That hand withal looketh somewhat
Soft and small
 For so large a will, in sooth"

She too smiled by that same sign
But her smile was cold and fine
   Toll slowly
"Little hand clasps muckle gold
Or it were not worth the hold
 Of thy son, good uncle mine!"

Then the young lord jerked his breath
And sware thickly in his teeth toll slowly
"He would wed his own betrothed, an
She loved him an she loathed
 Let the life come or the death"

Up she rose with scornful eyes
As her father's child might rise
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"Thy hound's blood, my lord of Leigh, stains
Thy knightly heel, " quoth she
 "And he moans not where he lies:

"But a woman's will dies hard
In the hall or on the sward"
   Toll slowly
"By that grave, my lords, which made
Me orphaned girl and dowered lady
 I deny you wife and ward!"

Unto each she bowed her head and
Swept past with lofty tread
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Ere the midnight-bell had ceased
In the chapel had the priest
 Blessed her, bride of Linteged

Fast and fain the bridal train
Along the night-storm rode amain
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Hard the steeds of lord and serf struck
Their hoofs out on the turf
 In the pauses of the rain

Fast and fain the kinsmen's train
Along the storm pursued amain
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Steed on steed track, dashing off
Thickening, doubling, hoof on hoof
 In the pauses of the rain

And the bridegroom led the flight on
His red-roan steed of might
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And the bride lay on his arm, still
As if she feared no harm
 Smiling out into the night

"Dost thou fear?" he said at last "Nay
" she answered him in haste
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"Not such death as we could find only
Life with one behind
 Ride on fast as fear, ride fast!"

Up the mountain wheeled the
Steed girth to ground, and fetlocks spread
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Headlong bounds, and rocking flanks, down
He staggered, down the banks
 To the towers of Linteged

High and low the serfs looked out
Red the flambeaus tossed about
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In the courtyard rose the cry
"Live the Duchess and Sir Guy!"
 But she never heard them shout

On the steed she dropped her cheek
Kissed his mane and kissed his neck
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"I had happier died by thee than
Lived on, a Lady Leigh, "
 Were the first words she did speak

But a three months' joyaunce lay 'twixt
That moment and to day
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When five hundred archers tall stand
Beside the castle wall
 To recapture Duchess May

And the castle standeth black with the
Red sun at it's back    Toll slowly
And a fortnight's siege is done
And, except the duchess, none
 Can misdoubt the coming wrack

Then the captain, young Lord Leigh
With his eyes so grey of blee
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And thin lips that scarcely sheath the
Cold white gnashing of his teeth
 Gnashed in smiling, absently

Cried aloud, "So goes the day
Bridegroom fair of Duchess May!"
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"Look thy last upon that sun!
If thou seest to-morrow's one
 'T will be through a foot of clay

"Ha, fair bride! dost hear no sound
Save that moaning of the hound?"
   Toll slowly
"Thou and I have parted troth
Yet I keep my vengeance-oath
 And the other may come round

"Ha! thy will is brave to dare
And thy new love past compare"
   Toll slowly
"Yet thine old love's falchion brave is
As strong a thing to have
 As the will of lady fair

"Peck on blindly
Netted dove! If a wife's name thee behove"
Toll slowly
"Thou shalt wear the same to-morrow
Ere the grave has hid the sorrow
 Of thy last ill mated love

"O'er his fixed and silent mouth
Thou and I will call back troth":
   Toll slowly
"He shall altar be and priest
And he will not cry at least
 'I forbid you, I am loth!'

"I will wring thy fingers pale in
The gauntlet of my mail":
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"'Little hand and muckle gold' close
Shall lie within my hold
 As the sword did, to prevail"

Oh, the little birds sang east
And the little birds sang west
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Oh, and laughed the Duchess May
And her soul did put away
 All his boasting, for a jest

In her chamber did she sit, laughing
Low to think of it,    Toll slowly
"Tower is strong and will is free: thou
Canst boast, my lord of Leigh
 But thou boastest little wit"

In her tire-glass gazèd she
And she blushed right womanly
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She blushed half from her disdain, half
Her beauty was so plain
  "Oath for oath, my lord of Leigh!"

Straight she called her maidens in "Since
Ye gave me blame herein" toll slowly
"That a bridal such as mine should
Lack gauds to make it fine
 Come and shrive me from that sin

"It is three months gone to day
Since I gave mine hand away":
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"Bring the gold and bring the gem
We will keep bride-state in them
While we keep the foe at bay

"On your arms I loose mine hair comb
It smooth and crown it fair":
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"I would look in purple pall from
This lattice down the wall
 And throw scorn to one that's there!"

Oh, the little birds sang east
And the little birds sang west
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On the tower the castle's lord leant
In silence on his sword
 With an anguish in his breast

With a spirit laden weight did
He lean down passionate:
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They have almost sapped the wall
They will enter therewithal
With no knocking at the gate

Then the sword he leant upon, shivered
Snapped upon the stone
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"Sword, " he thought, with inward laugh
"ill thou servest for a staff
 When thy nobler use is done!

"Sword, thy nobler use is
Done! tower is lost, and shame begun!"
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"If we met them in the breach, hilt
To hilt or speech to speech
 We should die there, each for one

"If we met them at the
Wall, we should singly, vainly fall"
   Toll slowly
"But, if I die here alone, then
I die who am but one
 And die nobly for them all

"Five true friends lie for my sake in
The moat and in the brake"
   Toll slowly
"Thirteen warriors lie at rest with a
Black wound in the breast
And not one of these will wake

"So, no more of this shall
Be! heart-blood weighs too heavily"
   Toll slowly
"And I could not sleep in grave
With the faithful and the brave
 Heaped around and over me

"Since young Clare a mother hath
And young Ralph a plighted faith"
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"Since my pale young sister's cheeks blush
Like rose when Ronald speaks
 Albeit never a word she saith

"These shall never die for me:
Life-blood falls too heavily":
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"And if I die here apart
O'er my dead and silent heart
 They shall pass out safe and free

"When the foe hath heard it said
'Death holds Guy of Linteged'"
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"That new corse new peace shall
Bring, and a blessèd, blessèd thing
Shall the stone be at it's head

"Then my friends shall pass out free
And shall bear my memory"
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"Then my foes shall sleek their pride
Soothing fair my widowed bride
   Whose sole sin was love of me:

"With their words all smooth and sweet
They will front her and entreat"
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"And their purple pall will spread
Underneath her fainting head
 While her tears drop over it

"She will weep her woman's tears
She will pray her woman's prayers"
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"But her heart is young in pain
And her hopes will spring again
 By the suntime of her years

"Ah, sweet May! ah
Sweetest grief! once I vowed thee my belief"
Toll slowly "That thy name expressed thy
Sweetness, May of poets, in completeness!
 Now my May day seemeth brief"

All these silent thoughts did swim o'er
His eyes grown strange and dim
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Till his true men, in the place
Wished they stood there face to face
 With the foe instead of him

"One last oath
My friends that wear faithful hearts
To do and dare!"    Toll slowly
"Tower must fall and bride be lost
Swear me service worth the cost!"
 Bold they stood around to swear

"Each man clasp my hand and swear by
The deed we failed in there"
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"Not for vengeance, not for right
Will ye strike one blow to-night!"
 Pale they stood around to swear

"One last boon
Young Ralph and Clare! faithful hearts
To do and dare!"    Toll slowly
"Bring that steed up from his stall
Which she kissed before you all
 Guide him up the turret-stair

"Ye shall harness him aright
And lead upward to this height: "
   Toll slowly
 "Once in love and twice in war hath
He borne me strong and far:
 He shall bear me far to-night"

Then his men looked to and fro
When they heard him speaking so
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"'Las! the noble heart, " they thought
"he in sooth is grief-distraught:
 Would we stood here with the foe!"

But a fire flashed from his eye
'twixt their thought and their reply
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"Have ye so much time to
Waste? We who ride here, must ride fast
 As we wish our foes to fly"

They have fetched the steed with care
In the harness he did wear
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Past the court and through the doors
Across the rushes of the floors
 But they goad him up the stair

Then from out her bower chambère
Did the Duchess May repair:
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"Tell me now what is your need, "
Said the lady, "of this steed
 That ye goad him up the stair?"

Calm she stood unbodkined through
Fell her dark hair to her shoe:
   Toll slowly
And the smile upon her face
Ere she left the tiring-glass
 Had not time enough to go

"Get thee back, sweet Duchess May! hope is
Gone like yesterday":    Toll slowly
One half-hour completes the breach and thy
Lord grows wild of speech
 Get thee in, sweet lady, and pray!

"In the east tower, high'st of all
Loud he cries for steed from stall":
   Toll slowly
"'He would ride as far, ' quoth
He, 'as for love and victory
 Though he rides the castle-wall'

"And we fetch the steed from stall
Up where never a hoof did fall"
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"Wifely prayer meets deathly need: may the
Sweet Heavens hear thee plead
 If he rides the castle-wall!"

Low she dropt her head, and lower
Till her hair coiled on the floor
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And tear after tear you heard
Fall distinct as any word
 Which you might be listening for

"Get thee in, thou soft ladye! here is never
A place for thee!"    Toll slowly
"Braid thine hair and clasp thy gown
That thy beauty in it's moan
 May find grace with Leigh of Leigh"

She stood up in bitter case
With a pale yet steady face:
   Toll slowly
Like a statue thunderstruck
Which, though quivering, seems to look
 Right against the thunder-place

And her foot trod in, with pride
Her own tears i' the stone beside
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"Go to, faithful friends, go to! judge
No more what ladies do
 No, nor how their lords may ride!"

Then the good steed's rein she took
And his neck did kiss and stroke:
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Soft he neighed to answer her
And then followed up the stair
 For the love of her sweet look:

Oh, and steeply
Steeply wound up the narrow stair around
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Oh, and closely, closely speeding
Step by step beside her treading
 Did he follow, meek as hound

On the east tower, high'st of all, there
Where never a hoof did fall
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Out they swept, a vision steady
Noble steed and lovely lady
 Calm as if in bower or stall

Down she knelt at her lord's knee
And she looked up silently
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And he kissed her twice and thrice
For that look within her eyes
 Which he could not bear to see

Quoth he, "Get thee from this strife
And the sweet saints bless thy life!"
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"In this hour I stand in need
Of my noble red-roan steed
 But no more of my noble wife"

Quoth she, "Meekly have I done all
Thy biddings under sun":
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"But by all my womanhood, which is
Proved so, true and good
I will never do this one  

"Now by womanhood's degree and
By wifehood's verity"    Toll slowly
"In this hour if thou hast need
Of thy noble red-roan steed
 Thou hast also need of me

"By this golden ring ye see
On this lifted hand pardiè"
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"If, this hour, on castle-wall can be
Room for steed from stall
 Shall be also room for me

"So the sweet saints with me be, "
(did she utter solemnly)
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"If a man, this eventide, on
This castle wall will ride
 He shall ride the same with me"

Oh, he sprang up in the selle
And he laughed out bitter-well
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"Wouldst thou ride among the leaves, as
We used on other eves
 To hear chime a vesper-bell?"

She clung closer to his knee "Ay
Beneath the cypress-tree!"
   Toll slowly "Mock me not
For otherwhere than along the greenwood fair
 Have I ridden fast with thee

"Fast I rode with new made vows
From my angry kinsman's house":
   Toll slowly
"What, and would you men should reck that
I dared more for love's sake
As a bride than as a spouse?

"What, and would you it should
Fall, as a proverb, before all"
   Toll slowly
"That a bride may keep your side
While through castle-gate you ride
 Yet eschew the castle-wall?"

Ho! the breach yawns into ruin and
Roars up against her suing
   Toll slowly
With the inarticulate din and
The dreadful falling in
 Shrieks of doing and undoing!

Twice he wrung her hands in twain
But the small hands closed again
   Toll slowly
Back he reined the steed back
Back! but she trailed along his track
 With a frantic clasp and strain

Evermore the foemen pour through the
Crash of window and door
   Toll slowly
And the shouts of Leigh and Leigh
And the shrieks of "kill!" and "flee!"
 Strike up clear amid the roar

Thrice he wrung her hands in twain
But they closed and clung again
   Toll slowly
While she clung, as one, withstood, clasps
A Christ upon the rood
 In a spasm of deathly pain

She clung wild and she clung mute
With her shuddering lips half-shut
   Toll slowly
Her head fallen as half in swound, hair
And knee swept on the ground
 She clung wild to stirrup and foot

Back he reined his steed back-thrown
On the slippery coping-stone:
   Toll slowly
Back the iron hoofs did grind
On the battlement behind
 Whence a hundred feet went down:

And his heel did press and goad
On the quivering flank bestrode
   Toll slowly
"Friends and brothers, save my wife! Pardon
Sweet, in change for life
B  ut I ride alone to God"

Straight as if the Holy name had
Upbreathed her like a flame
   Toll slowly
She upsprang, she rose upright, in his
Selle she sate in sight
 By her love she overcame

And her head was on his breast where
She smiled as one at rest
   Toll slowly "Ring, " she cried
"O vesper-bell in the
Beechwood's old chapelle
 But the passing-bell rings best!"

They have caught out at the rein which
Sir Guy threw loose in vain
   Toll slowly
For the horse in stark despair, with
His front hoofs poised in air
 On the last verge rears amain

Now he hangs, he rocks between
And his nostrils curdle in
   Toll slowly
Now he shivers head and hoof and
The flakes of foam fall off
 And his face grows fierce and thin:

And a look of human woe from
His staring eyes did go:
   Toll slowly
And a sharp cry uttered he
In a foretold agony
 Of the headlong death below

And, "Ring, ring, thou passing-bell
" still she cried, "i' the old chapelle!"
   Toll slowly
Then, back-toppling, crashing back a dead
Weight flung out to wrack
Horse and riders overfell
Oh, the little birds sang east
And the little birds sang west
   Toll slowly
And I read this ancient
Rhyme, in the churchyard, while the chime
 Slowly tolled for one at rest

The abeles moved in the sun
And the river smooth did run
   Toll slowly
And the ancient Rhyme rang strange, with
It's passion and it's change
 Here, where all done lay undone

And beneath a willow tree I
A little grave did see toll slowly
Where was graved Here, undefiled, lieth
Maud, a three-year child
 Eighteen hundred forty-three

Then O spirit's, did I say
Ye who rode so fast that day
   Toll slowly
Did star-wheels and angel wings
With their holy winnowings
 Keep beside you all the way?

Though in passion ye would dash
With a blind and heavy crash toll slowly
Up against the thick-bossed shield of
God's judgment in the field
 Though your heart and brain were rash

Now, your will is all unwilled now
Your pulses are all stilled:
   Toll slowly
Now, ye lie as meek and mild
(whereso laid) as Maud the child
 Whose small grave was lately filled

Beating heart and burning brow
Ye are very patient now
   Toll slowly
And the children might be bold to
Pluck the kingcups from your mould
 Ere a month had let them grow

And you let the goldfinch sing in
The alder near in spring
   Toll slowly
Let her build her nest and sit all
The three weeks out on it
 Murmuring not at anything

In your patience ye are strong
Cold and heat ye take not wrong
   Toll slowly
When the trumpet of the
Angel blows eternity's evangel
 Time will seem to you not long

Oh, the little birds sang east
And the little birds sang west
   Toll slowly
And I said in underbreath, All our life
Is mixed with death
 And who knoweth which is best?

Oh, the little birds sang east
And the little birds sang west
   Toll slowly
And I smiled to think God's
Greatness flowed around our incompleteness
 Round our restlessness, His rest