VARIOUS POEMS
Darkling with all the secrets of the gnomes.
The lambent, ambient lava far below
Grew hot, and broadened like the mouth of hell
Yawning for prey; and poisonous, floating fumes
Steamed over him, till, at the last, a puff,
Noisome and dense, smothered his breath so long
The knight was stifled; round his heart he felt
The weight of death, and dropt within his crate
Fainting; but even then it struck firm earth.
The sulphurous vapor coiled, and fled away;
And sight and sound came to him where he stood,
There on the jagged ledges, half-way hung
Betwixt the furnace and the crater's rim.
And lo! beneath, and piled on either side,
A drift of brimstone, fallen like the snow
From those hot clouds; shining before his eyes,
Yellow and bright and crystal-flaked, it lay,
More worth than what it seemed like, powdered gold.
Then, without pause, he labored with the spade
Till the wide crate was full; while, far above,
The men-at-arms peered from the outmost cliff,
Watching the work, and, when the crate was full,
Drew up and emptied it and let it down;
So three times drew it up and lowered it;
But the third time Montaña stept within,
And signalled. So they lifted him again,
Past shadowy lines of chasm, cave, and crag,
Up, till the sky seemed nearer than the gulf
Where even to look was ruin; but the knight
Held to the summit, where they drew him in
To light and life. Thus was the brave deed done.
396
