Rudel and the Lady of Tripoli
Then straightway awoke and rose Rudel—
And hey, but he was white!
Thin and fierce his lips were set;
His eyes were cold and bright.
The picture's in his left hand,
The dagger's in the right.
Stabbed to the core, upon the floor
Fell down that stranger-knight.
Rang loud the swords in the scabbards,
The voices loud and high—
"Let pass, let pass!" cried out Rudel,
"Let pass before he die—"
The lords fell back in grim array
Around the dying man :
"For pity and pardon let him kneel
And pray, if so he can ! "
But never a word said Geoffrey
Save only, "Who is she?"
One moment smiled the dying man—
"The Lady of Tripoli!"
He opened wide his sea-blue eyes,
Dead, in a face of stone. . . .
Out to the windy dark Rudel,
Unhindered, rushed alone.
Part II.
"Hew the timbers of sandal wood
And planks of ivory.
Rear up the shining masts of gold
And let us put to sea.
"Sew the sails with a silken thread
That all are silken too.
Sew them with scarlet pomegranates
Upon a sheet of blue.
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