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He ceas'd, and with a groan his spirit fled ;

The pious warrior's tears bedew'd the dead.
When lo, a youth and aged man drew near,
Two of the stranger's train, who, smit with fear
And overmatch'd, had safety sought in flight,
And, hiding in the brakes, beheld the fight.

As sorrowing each by his dead master stands,

His state and story Paladour demands.

The elder thus replies.

Untimely slain,

'A noble knight is stretch'd upon the plain.

'Oft has his prowess been the theme of fame :

Proud was his birth, and Lanval was his name. 'Who has not listen'd to the tuneful lay

Of a fair knight, lov'd by a haughty Fay?

For him with doleful neighings, ev'ry spring,

• The faithful Palfrey makes the meadow ring:

But mov'd at length to pity, and forgive,

'The nymph relenting bade her lover live:

'Recall'd his senses, with ambrosial kiss,

And fondly sooth'd him in the bow'r of bliss.

'Brave Lanval sprung from these. Though cold he lies,

'Ne'er on a better knight the sun shall rise.

"What need to tell how each Armoric lance

By him was vanquish'd in the jousts of France;

'Or how, where Tweed, or Tay's fair waters flow, With matchless force he drove the barb'rous foe.

Yet, humble in his love, a mortal dame

First kindled in his breast affection's flame. He woo'd the fairest on Brigantian plains; 'The fairest maid the noblest knight obtains :

So blest they seem'd it might have envy mov'd; 'But none would envy whom all prais'd and lov'd. 'At length the land resounds with loud alarms :

'His sovereign's mandate calls him forth to arms.

Through all the castle spreads contagious grief; 'The frantic bride refuses all relief:

' Roll'd in the dust, with tresses torn, she lies, 'And often calls on death, with piteous cries, 'Brave Lanval's breast as keen affliction tears; 'But manly grief a firmer aspect wears.

'And now the trumpet sounds, the martial train t

In order'd files move slowly o'er the plain :

When Lanval thus address'd the friend he lov'd,

'From childhood's playful hours his faith was prov'd :

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Compell'd, to distant lands, in arms I go

"To bear sharp combat to my country's foe. "Victorious still, in battle I delight,、

"Nor fear the issue of the dang'rous fight:

"But other cares molest. This wide domain, "My fair paternal seat, this fertile plain,

"I to thy care commit, and more than life,

"And all this fair inheritance, my wife.

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By all the pleasures of our early years!

By all thou lov'st! by all that life endears!

"Fair fame, and faithful friends, thy mistress'

smile,

"And blest repose from honourable toil!

"Untouch'd, unstain'd by fraud or force, restore.A

"The sacred charge!" He said, and Urien swore.

But mark the sequel of the sharueful tale,

'O'er truth and knighthood, lawless fires prevail; The friend from childhood prov'd was false, the wife was frail.

And soon officious fame, with busy tongue,

< To noble Lanval's ear proclaim'd the wrong. 'At first he doubts, but as the rumour grew 'Confirm'd with circumstance, he deems it true. Stung to the soul, no more he brooks delay, Vaults on his steed, and measures back the way. 'No warder stands upon his castle wall,

And the blast howls through his deserted hall. 'Waste are his fields, and all his fair domains

A gloomy void, where desolation reigns.

'As when a ship, by furious tempest tost,

Hangs on the rocks which guard some savage coast,

High o'er the deck the rushing surges roar,

And hurl her bursting sides against the shore:

'The refluent wave upon the barren strand

'Leaves some poor wounded wretch to crawl to land:

'Bleeding and faint, o'ercome with toil and pain,

'Hope gives him force the lofty cliff to gain :
But when around he throws his anxious eyes

' And sees one waste, extended to the skies;
The tiger's foot upon the sand imprest,
'But man's abode no wreaths of smoke attest;

His heart within him dies. So Lanval stood, 'Despair and horror chill'd the vital flood.

A rustic now th' events in order tells,

And all the guilt of that vile pair reveals.

Stern wrath succeeds to grief. His mighty mind

'A vengeance equal to the crime design'd:

His martial band to summon from afar,

And crush his proud perfidious foe with war.

• But Urien soon a trusty spy alarms,

'And Lanval is beset with ambush'd arms.

Foully, thou saw'st, his generous blood was spilt,

• And murther seal'd th' adulterous robber's guilt.'

With grief the knight, whose soul was just and good,

Heard the sad tale of treason and of blood: