The parallel they needed not to name,
But in the dead they damn'd the living dame.
every little noise she look'd behind,
For still the knight was present to her mind;
And anxious oft she started on the way,
And thought the horseman ghost came thundering for his prey.
Return'd, she took her bed with little rest,
But in short slumbers dreamt the funeral feast:
Awak'd, she turn'd her side, and slept again;
The same black vapours mounted in her brain,
And the same dreams return'd with double pain.
Now forc'd to wake, because afraid to sleep,
Her blood all fever'd, with a furious leap
She sprang from bed, distracted in her mind,
And fear'd, at every step, a twiching sprite behind.
Darkling and desperate, with a staggering pace,
Of death afraid, and conscious of disgrace;
Fear, pride, remorse, at once her heart assail'd,
Pride put remorse to flight, but fear prevail'd.
Friday, the fatal day, when next it came,
Her soul forethought the Fiend would change his game,
And her
pursue, or Theodore be slain,
And two ghosts join their packs to hunt her o'er the plain.
This dreadful image so possess'd her mind,
That desperate any succour else to find,
She ceas'd all farther hope; and now began
To make reflection on the unhappy man.
Rich, brave, and
young, who
past expression lov'd,
Proof to disdain, and not to be remov'd:
Of all the men respected and admir'd,
Of all the dames, except herself, desir'd:
Why not of her? preferr'd above the rest
By him with knightly deeds, and open love profess'd?
So had another been, where he his vows address'd.
This quell'd her pride, yet other doubts remain'd,
That, once disdaining, she might be disdain'd.
The fear was just, but greater fear prevail'd,
Fear of her life by hellish hounds assail'd:
He took a lowering leave; but who can tell,
What outward hate might inward love conceal?
Her sex's art she knew; and why not, then,
Might deep dissembling have a place in men?
Here hope began to dawn; resolv'd to try,
She fix'd on this her utmost remedy;
Death was behind, but hard it was to die,
'Twas time enough at last on death to call,
The precipice in sight: a shrub was all,
That kindly stood betwixt to break the fatal fall.
One maid she had, beloved above the rest;
Secure of her, the secret she confess'd;
And now the cheerful light her fears dispell'd,
She with no winding turns the truth conceal'd,
But put the woman off, and stood reveal'd:
With faults confess'd, commission'd her to go,
If pity yet had place, and reconcile her foe;
The welcome message made, was soon received;
'Twas to be wish'd and hoped, but scarce believed;
Fate seem'd a fair occasion to present;
He knew the sex, and fear'd she might repent,
Should he delay the moment of consent.
There yet remain'd to gain her friends (a care
The modesty of maidens well might spare);
But she with such a zeal the cause embraced
(As women, where they will, are all in haste);
The father, mother, and the kin beside,
Were overborn by fury of the tide;
With full consent of all, she changed her state;
Resistless in her love, as in her hate.
By her example warn'd, the rest beware;
More easy, less imperious, were the fair;
And that one hunting, which the Devil design'd
For one fair female, lost him half the kind.
From the Tale of "The Cock and the Fox."
Two friends or brothers, with devout intent,
On some far pilgrimage together went.
It happen'd so that, when the sun was down,
They just arrived by twilight at a town:
That day had been the baiting of a bull,
'Twas at a feast, and every inn so full,
That no void room in chamber, or on ground,
And but one sorry bed was to be found :
And that so little it would hold but one,
Though till this hour they never lay alone.
So were they forced to part; one stay'd behind, His fellow sought what lodging he could find :
At last he found a stall where oxen stood,
And that he rather chose than lie abroad.
'Twas in a farther yard without a door ;
But, for his ease, well litter'd was the floor.
His fellow, who the narrow bed had kept, Was weary, and without a rocker slept: Supine he snored; but in the dead of night, He dreamt his friend appear'd before his sight, Who, with his ghastly look, and doleful
Said," Help me, brother, or this night I die:
"Arise and help, before all help be vain,
"Or in an ox's stall I shall be slain.'
Roused from his rest, he waken'd in a start,
Shivering with horrour, and with aking heart;
At length to cure himself by reason tries;
-"'Tis but a dream, and what are dreams but lies ?".
So thinking, changed his side, and closed his eyes.
His dream returns; his friend appears again :
-"The murderers come; now help, or I am slain :'
'Twas but a vision still, and visions are but vain.
He dreamt the third: but now his friend appear'd
Pale, naked, pierced with wounds, with blood besmear'd:
Thrice warn'd," Awake," said he, " relief is late,
"The deed is done; but thou revenge my fate:
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