XLV. He flung it from him far ahead, And never spake he more, But — “Pass thee first, thou dauntless heart, The roar of fight rose fiercer yet, Till the spears of Spain came shivering in, XLVII. "Now praised be God the day is won! Why dost thou draw the rein so hard, XLVIII. "Oh, ride ye on, Lord King!" he said, For I must keep the dreariest watch XLIX. "There lies above his master's heart, 1 Stour: battle; or the word may refer to the dust raised by the fight. 2 Fell: stony, barren hills. 8 Dree: suffer or endure. 4 The Douglas: Sir James Douglas. 5 Stark: stiff, rigid in death. L. "The world grows cold, my arm is old, And all that I loved best on earth Is stretched before me there. LI. "O Bothwell banks,2 that bloom so bright The heaviest cloud that ever blew Is bound for you this day. LII. "And, Scotland, thou may'st veil thy head In sorrow and in pain: The sorest stroke upon thy brow Hath fallen this day in Spain! LIII. "We'll bear them back unto our ship, LIV. "And be thou strong of heart, Lord King, The sod that drank the Douglas' blood Shall never bear the Moor!" 1 Lyart: gray. 2 Bothwell banks: Bothwell Castle, the seat of the Douglas family on the banks of the Clyde near Glasgow. LV. The King he lighted from his horse, And took the Douglas by the hand, LVI. "God give thee rest, thou valiant soul! LVII. We lifted thence the good Lord James, LVIII. No welcome greeted our return, Nor clang of martial tread, But all were dumb and hushed as death, 1 Kirk: church; the church of Douglas Castle. 2 Melrose: Melrose Abbey, the finest specimen of Gothic architecture in Scotland, is situated on the Tweed about forty miles southeast of Edinburgh. Here the heart of the Bruce is said to have been buried. THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE.1 HALF a league, half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of death Forward, the Light Brigade! Rode the six hundred. 1 During the Crimean War between England, France, and Russia, Lord Lucan, who commanded the English Light Brigade of Cavalry, chose to interpret an order of attack to mean that he should attempt to take a Russian battery at the extreme end of a long, narrow valley. To accomplish it the Brigade had to run the gauntlet of two lines of infantry and artillery, besides meeting the full fire of the battery directly in the face. The movement was a terrible blunder. Out of six hundred and seventythree that went into action, only one hundred and ninety-five came out unscathed. The rest were killed or wounded. Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them Volley'd and thunder'd; Storm'd at with shot and shell, Rode the six hundred. Flash'd all their sabres bare, All the world wonder'd: Reel'd from the sabre-stroke Shatter'd and sunder'd. Then they rode back, but not, Not the six hundred. Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them Cannon behind them Volley'd and thunder'd; They that had fought so well 1 Cossack: one of a race of people inhabiting Southern Russia. On account of their great skill in horsemanship, they have long been largely employed in the Russian army as cavalry. |