124
SIEGE OF VALENCIA.
Scene—The Aisle of a Gothic Church.
Hernandez, Garcias, and others.
HERNANDEZ.
Each to his place—I may not say, of rest;
Your faithful vigils for your sons may win
What must not be your own. Ye are as those
Who sow, in peril and in care, the seed
Of the fair tree, beneath whose stately shade
They may not sit. But bless'd be they who toil
For after-days!—All high and holy thoughts
Be with you, warriors, thro' the lingering hours
Of the night-watch!
GARCIAS.
Of high and holy thoughts, wherewith to fence
Our hearts against despair. Yet have I been
From youth a son of war. The stars have look'd
A thousand times upon my couch of heath,
Spread midst the wild sierras, by some stream