Poems (May)/Aline's choice

by Edith May

ALINE'S CHOICE.

Rudolph is a baron,
 He dreams till noon on a pillow fine;
From the dusk of eve to the dusk of dawn,
 Drinking deep of the amber wine.
But Ludovic, the peasant,
 Lies like a deer in the dewy brake;
With his broad palm for a drinking cup,
     Stoops to a breezy lake.

Rudolph rides to the knightly chase
 With hawk, and pack, and a mounted train;
Ludovic, with a single hound,
 Wanders afoot o'er the windy plain.
The one will rest in a silken tent
 When the quarry has dropped, and the mort is played,
The other lies in a cleft of rock
     Under a hemlock's shade.

Rudolph will give me a palfrey white,
 With silken saddle, and stirrup of gold,
Ludovic in his arms of steel
 Has borne me far through the heat and cold.
The noble has promised a chain of gems,
 Broidered kerchief, and mantle gay;
The peasant will shear me a fleece to spin
     A gown for my wedding day.

What should I do with jewels
 On my neck that is brown with the sun and rain?
How should I fasten my long, loose hair
 With a comb of pearl, or a golden chain?
I'll crown it fair with a myrtle wreath,
 I'll gather it back with a riband gay,
And I'll wrap myself in my peasant's cloak
     To keep the cold away.

I hold my breath in yon lone old halls;
 Echoes that lurk in the niches there
Say over my words with a hollow laugh,
 Stealthily follow from stair to stair;
Knights and dames on the pictured wall,
 Look, as I pass, with a steadfast frown,
And the mastiff that's chained in the castle court
     Barks at my peasant gown.

I know a roof where the wild grass hangs
 From the moss and mould to the cabin door;
I know a hound that will crouch and fawn
 At the sound of my step on the rush-strewn floor!
Keep your gifts, oh Rudolph,
 The chain of pearls, and the golden band,
To match the pride of a fairer neck,
     To shine on a whiter hand.