ROBERT OF NORMANDY.
67
One strain, one strain!
My spirit pines to hear them once again,
The songs I loved in childhood! yet once more,
I would drink in their sweetness; I would pour
My spirit out in the dear melody,
And smile to call it a deliverance; I,
Upon whose brow they sought to place the crown
Of high Jerusalem! I would lay down
All knightly honors, but to hear one song.
One little song of childhood, float along,
From my own blessed land! I pine, I die,
For thy free airs, my happy Normandy!
My spirit pines to hear them once again,
The songs I loved in childhood! yet once more,
I would drink in their sweetness; I would pour
My spirit out in the dear melody,
And smile to call it a deliverance; I,
Upon whose brow they sought to place the crown
Of high Jerusalem! I would lay down
All knightly honors, but to hear one song.
One little song of childhood, float along,
From my own blessed land! I pine, I die,
For thy free airs, my happy Normandy!
False king and brother! have the years thus failed
To wake thee to repentance? have they paled
Thy cheek in vain, and left upon thy brow,
Traces of change and suffering, such as bow
The haughtiest hearts to earth? Have they o'erthrown
Hopes, born amidst the splendors of a throne?
My father's throne, my birth-right thou did'st claim,
And for a brother's took a traitor's name,
Linked unto conqueror. Thought'st thou of these,
When the white ship went bounding o'er the seas,
When Norman hearts were sunk, and Norman skies
Looked on unweaponed hands, and downcast eyes?
To wake thee to repentance? have they paled
Thy cheek in vain, and left upon thy brow,
Traces of change and suffering, such as bow
The haughtiest hearts to earth? Have they o'erthrown
Hopes, born amidst the splendors of a throne?
My father's throne, my birth-right thou did'st claim,
And for a brother's took a traitor's name,
Linked unto conqueror. Thought'st thou of these,
When the white ship went bounding o'er the seas,
When Norman hearts were sunk, and Norman skies
Looked on unweaponed hands, and downcast eyes?
