Har. Mother!
Mor. [To Edwin.] I leave the court; come you with me?
Edwin. I go with you; come, mount, let us away!
Edw. By this the last breath of my lab' ring breast,
By this the last strife of my waning life,
Acknowledge him.
Mor.If he will come, he'll find
His homage at my castle!
Har.I will come!
Mor. Then come; bring ladders and besieging train;
My walls, like granite lips, retain the words
That I deny to thee. [Morcar and Edwin go out, right.
Edw. [Rising.] Ye shall not go—help, Heaven!
[Sinks back.
Resistless death
Steals swiftly in my breast
Sti.Look to the king.
How pale he grows!
Edw.Lift up the chair, lift up—
Bear me away from this accursed life, [The chair is lifted up.
In quiet let me die. Woe—woe, to you.
And woe to you—lost Saxon people—woe! [He is carried out.
Ordgar approaches Harold. The populace crowd into the hall.
Ord. I neither know nor rightly understand
What here has taken place. I know but this:
That when the gallows' hand had gripped me fast,
And life and hope were shadowed by grim death,
That, suddenly, before my wondering eyes,
The white mane of your flying stallion shot
As 'twere an angel's wing; this, too, I know,—
How, bending from the saddle as you passed,
You seized the hangman with a death-like grip
And hurled him down. So, Harold, my dear lord,
May heaven's thunder smite me to the ground
If e'er I speak another word than this:
God save King Harold, England's rightful king!
[Kneels before him; kisses his hand.
