The poetical works of Sir Walter Scott, with memoir of the author.

32 ROKEBY. [CANTO I.
Then clanking chains and levers tell,
That o'er the moat the drawbridge fell,
And, in the castle court below,
Voices are heard, and torches glow,
As marshalling the stranger's way,
Straight for the room where Oswald lay;
The cry was,-" Tidings from the host,'
Of weight-a messenger comes post."
Stifling the tumult of his breast,
His answer Oswald thus express'd" Bring food and wine, and trim the fire;
Admit the stranger, and retire."
VI.
The stranger came with heavy stride,2
The morion's plumes his visage hide,
And the buff-coat, an ample fold,
Mantles his form's gigantic mould.3
Full slender answer deigned he
To Oswald's anxious courtesy,
But mark'd, by a disdainful smile,
He saw and scorn'd the petty wile,
1 [MS. —" The cry was,-' Heringham comes post,
With tidings of a battle lost.'
As one that roused himself from rest,
His answer," &c.]
2 [MS. —" with heavy pace,
The plumed morion hid his face."]
3 [See Appendix, Note B.]