Page:The white doe of Rylstone - or, The fate of the Nortons. A poem (IA whitedoeofrylsto00wordrich).pdf/53

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With their’s my efforts cannot blend,
I cannot for such cause contend;
Their aims I utterly forswear;
But I in body will be there.
Unarmed and naked will I go,
Be at their side, come weal or woe:
On kind occasions I may wait,
See, hear, obstruct, or mitigate.
Bare breast I take and an empty hand.”—
Therewith he threw away the lance
Which he had grasped in that strong trance,
Spurned it—like something that would stand
Between him and the pure intent
Of love on which his soul was bent.

“For thee, for thee, is left the sense
Of trial past without offence
To God or Man ;—such innocence,
Such consolation, and the excess
Of an unmerited distress;