1826.) 
Pierre of Stauffen. 
And all that more than angel face, 
And all her form’s bewitching grace ! 
“ Resistless spells a lover’s tear ; 
And, Stauffen, thine hath called me here : 
The Daughter of the Waves am I, 
And if thow lov’st, thy love must vie 
E’en with the wave in purity ! 
Bright must it be, as is thy sword ; 
Inviolable, as thy word. 
My heart is thine; and can’st thou this ?— 
But yet delay the fatal yes 
That binds thy fate to mine; for know 
That all my tenderness and woe, 
That my forgiveness could not save 
My perjured lover from the grave ! 
Such are our laws; e’en I must be 
The herald of their stern decree ; 
And weeping o’er thee, thou wouldst feel 
My tears, although a spell conceal 
The eye that shed them !” 
Could -he prove 
A recreant to such tender love? 
* Ah! no—that fount would cease to flow, 
Ere his fond heart a change could know.” 
The nymph believed him—how could she 
Not credit love’s eternity ? 
For her’s was of the fire that dies 
No more beneath the waves than skies. 
Bright were the feasts, when at his side 
The Knight of Stauffen brought his bride ; 
But brighter were they on the morn 
When to the knight an heir was born. 
The vassal maidens robbed the bow’rs 
Of all the sweetest, blooming flow’rs: 
But yet a train of maidens fair, 
A lovelier train, was surely there ; 
None knew from whence they came; they bore 
Rich caskets of that yellow ore 
Found on the Tagus’ side; and some 
With coral, pearls, and amber come. 
With syren song the band advance, 
With syren song and waving dance ; 
The off’rings placed, they then retreat, 
Still breathing music soft and sweet: 
They sink, but where they sink appear 
High gushing fountains, bright and clear, 
Which still remain ; and with their spray 
Spread coolness in meridian day. 
s * # # * 
A twelvemonth passed, and Stauffen’s knight 
Was called by glory to the fight : 
He fought and conquered. “ Knight, to thee 
I owe my throne and victory !” 
The monarch said; “ and, for my land, 
Thy guerdon be my daughter’s hand !” 
493 
