Page:A Series of Plays on the Passions Volume 3.pdf/324

But hark, behind! the warders shout,
    And the hasty larums ring;
And the mingled sound of a gath'ring rout
    The passing air doth bring.

"O noble steed! now 'quit thee well,
    And prove thy gen'rous kind!
That fearful sound doth louder swell,
    It is not far behind.

"The frontier's near—a span the plain,
    Press on and do not fail!
Ah! on our steps fell horsemen gain,
    I hear their ringing mail."

2d Fish. Tush, man! give o'er; thy ballads have no end,
When thou art in the mood. I hear below
A sound of many voices on the shore:
Some boat, belike, forced by the drifting current
Upon the rocks, may be in jeopardy.

1st Fish. 'Tis all a mock to cut my ditty short.
Thou hast no mind to hear how it befel
That those two lovers were by kinsmen stern
O'erta'en; and how the knight, by armed foes
Beset, a bloody combat bravely held,
And was the while robb'd of his lady fair.
And how in Paynim land they met again.
How, as a Page disguised, she sought her knight,
Left on the field as lifeless. How she cheer'd him;
And how they married were, and home in state———