Than widowed ; left a prey to war's caprice,
The invader's insult and the conqueror's jest.
Silent she sits among her trembling maids,
Whose loud lament and clam'rous grief bespeak
Their anguish less than hers. But lo ! She smiles,
And, beckoning with her hand, she leads them forth
Without the wall, as when in days of peace
They held high holiday in nature's haunts.
But now behind them sounds the horrid din
Of ruthless war, and on they speed to where
A beetling precipice frowns ever at
Itself within the mirror of a pool
By spirits haunted. Now the steep is scaled.
With flashing eye and heaving breast she turns
And kindles thus heroic flame where erst
Were ashes of despair. "Th 1 insulting foe
Has boasted loud that he will cull the flowers
Of Pakche. Let him learn his boast is vain ;
For never shall they say that Pakche's Queen
Was less than queenly. Lo ! The spirits wait
In yon dark pool. Though deep the abyss and harsh
Death's summons, we shall fall into their arms
As on a bed of down and pillow there -
Our heads in conscious innocence." This said,
She leads them to the brink. Hand clasped in hand,
In sisterhood of woe; an instant thus
Then forth into the void they leap, brave hearts!
Like drifting petals of the plum, soft blown
By April's perfumed breath, so fell the flowers
Of Pakche; but in falling rose aloft
To honour's pinnacle.
The Korean delights in introducing poetical allusions into his folk-tales. It is only a line here and there, for his poetry is nothing if not spontaneous. He sings like the bird, because he cannot help it. One of the best of this style is the story of Cho-ung, who, after nailing to the palace gate his defiance of the usurper of his master's throne, fled to a distant monastery, and after mastering the science of war, came forth to destroy that usurper. The first day he became possessed in a marvellous way of a sword and a steed, and at night, still clad in his monk's garments, he enjoyed the hospitality of a country gentleman. As he stands at the window of his chamber, looking out upon
