Britain ... - Blue-Lite

156 THE DEVOTED ONE. [Act II.
And bathe in crystal waters, breathing music
Along their golden shores.
WALDJMAR.
And shall I dwell,
When he, the dread Destroyer, calls me hence,
In regions such as these ?
ERMIXGILD.
Ay, verily ;
And with the warrior-spirits of the slain
Companionship and lofty converse hold,
Where the proud Genii of the northern star
Spread their pavilion, and where gorgeous pomp
Illumines earth and heaven. Thy mother oft
Will from her bower look forth on those bright skies
Thy form to mark, in glittering mail yclad.
WALDIMAB.
The warrior's guise, his glory, and his sword
Are not for me. I own this heart hath felt,
When I have heard the stormy trumpet fling
Its brazen clamour on the winds, a wish
That I had been a soldier ;
but ere long
Such thoughts have died amid my bosonVs gloom,
Like sun-gleams on the darkly-rolling sea,
When swift the storm-cloud comes.
ERMINGILD.
What though, my son,
No battle-garland decks thy sacred brows,
Thou wilt become a spirit great in power.
Oft shall I list to hear thy deep-toned voice
Amid the cloud-borne thunders, as thou rid'st
On thy white giant steed, with vesture dipt
In blood-red glory, while the nations quake
With sad foreboding fear as they behold