76
POEMS.
They told him that his broken vow
Had paled her youthful face:
"'Tis false!" he cried, "what cruel tongue
Hath forged such slander base?
Oh, father, in this evil deed
Thy vengeful hand I trace."
Had paled her youthful face:
"'Tis false!" he cried, "what cruel tongue
Hath forged such slander base?
Oh, father, in this evil deed
Thy vengeful hand I trace."
A yearning look, a long last kiss,
And the frenzied youth was gone;
They mark'd his pallid cheek with dread,
As he madly hurried on,
Nor look'd he from that trying hour
His father's face upon.
And the frenzied youth was gone;
They mark'd his pallid cheek with dread,
As he madly hurried on,
Nor look'd he from that trying hour
His father's face upon.
The old man died, bowed down by grief
For the wrong that he had done,
And praying with his parting breath
To gaze upon his son,
Who came no more with a smile to bless
The long repentant one.
For the wrong that he had done,
And praying with his parting breath
To gaze upon his son,
Who came no more with a smile to bless
The long repentant one.
His castle proud to ruins fell,
Doom'd lonely e'er to be,
And nought was left of that ancient race
Save a tearful memory
Of the missing youth, and the maid who died
Beneath the trysting tree!
H. A.
Doom'd lonely e'er to be,
And nought was left of that ancient race
Save a tearful memory
Of the missing youth, and the maid who died
Beneath the trysting tree!
H. A.
