Page:The Monk, A Romance - Lewis (1796, 1st ed., Volume 3).djvu/65

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ALONZO THE BRAVE AND FAIR IMOGINE.

A warrior so bold, and a virgin so bright
Conversed, as they sat on the green;
They gazed on each other with tender delight;
Alonzo the Brave was the name of the knight,
The maid's was the Fair Imogine.

"And, oh!" said the youth, "since to-morrow I go
To fight in a far distant land,
Your tears for my absence soon leaving to flow,
Some other will court you, and you will bestow
On a wealthier suitor your hand."

"Oh! hush these suspicions," Fair Imogine said,
"Offensive to love and to me!
Far, if you be living, or if you be dead,
I swear by the Virgin, that none in your stead
Shall husband of Imogine be.

"If e'er I, by lust or by wealth led aside,
Forget my Alonzo the Brave,
God grant, that to punish my falsehood and pride
Your ghost at the marriage may sit by my side,
May tax me with perjury, claim me as bride,
And bear me away to the grave!"

To Palestine hastened the hero so bold;
His love, she lamented him sore:
But scarce had a twelvemonth elapsed, when behold,
A Baron all covered with jewels and gold
Arrived at Fair Imogine's door.

His