MAZEPPA.
41
“To-morrow would have been the first
“Of days no more deplored or curst,
“But bright, and long, and beckoning years,
“Seen dazzling through the mist of tears,
“Guerdon of many a painful hour;
“To-morrow would have given him power760
“To rule, to shine, to smite, to save—
“And must it dawn upon his grave?
XVIII.
“The sun was sinking—still I lay
“Chain’d to the chill and stiffening steed,
“I thought to mingle there our clay;
“And my dim eyes of death had need,
“No hope arose of being freed:
“I cast my last looks up the sky,
“And there between me and the sun
“I saw the expecting raven fly,770
“Who scarce would wait till both should die,
“Ere his repast begun;
“He flew, and perch’d, then flew once more,
“And each time nearer than before;
