A COVERED BRIDGE AT LUCERNE. PRINCE HENRY. GOD's blessing on the architects who build No less than on the builders of cathedrals, Whose massive walls are bridges thrown across The dark and terrible abyss of Death. Well has the name of Pontifex been given Unto the Church's head, as the chief builder And architect of the invisible bridge That leads from earth to heaven. ELSIE. How dark it grows! What are these paintings on the walls around us? PRINCE HENRY. The Dance Macaber! ELSIE. What? PRINCE HENRY. The Dance of Death! All that go to and fro must look upon it, Mindful of what they shall be, while beneath, Among the wooden piles, the turbulent river Rushes, impetuous as the river of life, With dimpling eddies, ever green and bright, Save where the shadow of this bridge falls on it. ELSIE. O, yes! I see it now! PRINCE HENRY. The grim musician Leads all men through the mazes of that dance, To different sounds in different measures mov ing; Sometimes he plays a lute, sometimes a drum, To tempt or terrify. ELSIE. What is this picture? PRINCE HENRY. It is a young man singing to a nun, Who kneels at her devotions, but in kneeling Turns round to look at him; and Death, meanwhile, Is putting out the candles on the altar! ELSIE. Ah, what a pity 't is that she should listen She might have heard in heaven the angels singing! PRINCE HENRY. Here he has stolen a jester's cap and bells, And dances with the Queen. |