1042 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1806. 
XXI. 
And when the priest his death-prayer had prayed, 
Thus unto Deloraine he said :-— 
‘¢ Now, speed thee what thou hast to do, 
Or, warrior, we may dearly rue; 
For those thou may’st not look upon, 
Are gathering fast round the yawning stone !”— 
Then Deloraine, in terror, took 
From the cold hand the Mighty Book, 
With iron clasped, and withiron bound : 
He thought as he took it the dead man frowned ; 
But the glare of the sepulchral light, 
Perchance had dazzled the warrior’s sight. 
XXII. 
When the huge stone sunk o’er the tomb, 
The night returned, in double gloom ; 
For the moon had gone down, and the stars were few; 
And, as the knight and the priest withdrew, 
With wavering steps and dizzy brain, 
_ They hardly might the postern gain. 
’Tis said, as through the aisles they passed, 
They heard strange noises on the blast ; 
And through the cloister-galleries small, 
Which at mid-height thread the chancel wall, 
Loud sobs, and laughter louder, ran, 
And voices unlike the voice of man; 
As if the fiends kept holiday, 
Because these spells were brought to day. 
I cannot tell how the truth may be ; 
T say the tale as ’twas said to me. 
FORCE OF LOVE. 
(From the Same.) 
hy 
A ND said I that my limbs were old ; 
And said I that my blood was cold, 
And that my kindly fire was fled, 
And my poor withered heart was dead, 
And that I might not sing of love ?— 
How could ! to the dearest theme, 
That ever warmed a minstrel’s dream, 
So foul, so false, a recreant prove ! 
How could I name love’s very name, 
Nor wake my heart to notes of flame! 
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