Britain ... - Blue-Lite

338 THE VARANGIAN. [Act III.
Its full-tide glory.
In the abbey halls
Of famed St. Alban, noble spirits meet
The gallant-bearing enterprise to plan ;
Which shall from hence the Norman Bastard drive,
And " England's Darling " seat on England's
throne.
Eager am I to meet them.
ZALMIRA.
Let us on :
Rest hath revived me. I, a Grecian maid,
Feel at the name of freedom every vein
Throb with heroic joy. My soul, like thine,
Longs for the glorious strife, longs to behold
Thy country from barbarian bondage freed ;
Nor will I shrink, in such a cause, with thee
Bravely to fight, to conquer, or to die. ( 31 )
HEREWARD.
Joy of my soul ! then onward will we go.
ZALMIRA.
See ! from her cloudy tabernacle comes
The moon, as if in haste, like some kind friend
To guide us weary-wandering pilgrims hence,
The shadowy forest lighting up with pomp
No kingly hall may rival. Dearly loved
Art thou by him, sweet moon, who his guitar
Beneath the woodbine-wreathed lattice strikes
To her that breathless in her joy doth list
His passionate melody, by those who dance
To castanet and lute in myrtle groves
The summer eve away ; but dearer still
Art thou, fair Dian, to the sea-boy who
Keeps lonely watch, upgazing on thy face
With thoughts of home and days of early love,
When thou didst smile on his wild frolic glee