RENA
151
"Yestermorn, as I sat spinning blithely at my cottage door,
Straightway fell a stately shadow in the sunshine on the floor;
Straightway fell a stately shadow in the sunshine on the floor;
"And a figure stood before me, so majestic and so grand,
That I knew it in a moment for the mighty Hildebrand—
That I knew it in a moment for the mighty Hildebrand—
"Stood and gazed on me till downward at my feet the distaff dropped,
And in all my veins the pulsing of the swift life-current stopped.
And in all my veins the pulsing of the swift life-current stopped.
"'Thou art Rena,' then he uttered, and he swore a dreadful oath,
And the tempest of his anger beat on me and on us both.
And the tempest of his anger beat on me and on us both.
"'She who thinks to wed with Volmar must have lands and gold,' said he,
'Or must come of noble lineage, fit to mate with mine and me!
'Or must come of noble lineage, fit to mate with mine and me!
"'Thou art but a peasant maiden, empty-handed, lowly born;
All the ladies of my castle would look down on thee with scorn.
All the ladies of my castle would look down on thee with scorn.
"'Even he will weary of thee when his passion once is spent,
Vainly cursing her who doomed him to an endless discontent!'
Vainly cursing her who doomed him to an endless discontent!'
"'Then I, trembling, rose up slowly, and I looked him in the face,
Though the dreadful frown it wore seemed to darken all the place.
Though the dreadful frown it wore seemed to darken all the place.
