THE LONGEST DEATH-WATCH.
13
Philip the Beautiful—whose eyes
Might win a woman's heart, I fear,
Even from his grave! "He will arise,"
The monks had murmured by his bier,
"And reign once more among us here."
Might win a woman's heart, I fear,
Even from his grave! "He will arise,"
The monks had murmured by his bier,
"And reign once more among us here."
She heard their whisper, and forgot
Castile and Aragon, and all
Save Philip, who had loved her not;
The cruel darkness of his pall
Seemed on an empty world to fall.
Castile and Aragon, and all
Save Philip, who had loved her not;
The cruel darkness of his pall
Seemed on an empty world to fall.
She took the dead man—to her sight
A prince in death's disguise, as fair
As when his wayward smile could light
The throne he wedded her to share—
And followed, hardly knowing where.
A prince in death's disguise, as fair
As when his wayward smile could light
The throne he wedded her to share—
And followed, hardly knowing where.
Almost as dumb as he, she fled,
Pallid and wasted, toward the place
Where he, the priestly promise said,
Must wait the hour when God's sweet grace
Should breathe into his breathless face.
Pallid and wasted, toward the place
Where he, the priestly promise said,
Must wait the hour when God's sweet grace
Should breathe into his breathless face.
