The poetical works of Sir Walter Scott ... Notes & life of the author.

504 NOOEBY. CANTO vI
And scarcely conscious what he hears,
The trumpets tingle in his ears.
O'er the long bridge they're sweeping now,
The van is hid by greenwood bought
But ere the rearward had pass'd o'er,
Guy Denzil heard and saw no morel
One stroke, upon the Castle bell,
To Oswald rung his dying knell.
XVIL
O, for that pencil, erst profuse
Of chivalry's emblazon'd hues,
That trac'd of old, in Woodstock bower,
The pageant of the Leaf and Flower,
And bodied forth the tourney high,
Held for the hand of Emilyl
Then might I paint the tumult broad,
That to the crowded abbey flow'd,
And pour'd, as with an ocean's sound,
Into the church's ample bound!
Then might I show each varying mien,
Exulting, woeful, or serene;
Indiff'rence, with his idiot stare,
And Sympathy, with anxious air,
Paint the dejected Cavalier,
Doubtful, disarm'd, and sad of cheer,
And,his proud foe, whose: formal eye
Claim'd conquest now and mastery;
And the brute crowd, whose envious zeal
Huzzas each turn of Fortune's wheel,
And loudest shouts when lowest lie
Exalted worth and station high.
Yet what may such a wish avail?'Tis mine to tell an onward tale,
Hurrying, as best I can, along,
The hearers and the hasty song; —
Like trav'ller when approaching home,
Who sees the shades of evening come,
And must not now his course delay,
Or choose the fair, but. winding way;
iNay, scarcely may his pace suspend,
Where o'er his head the wildings bend,
To bless the breeze that cools his brow,
Or snatch a blossom from the bough.
XXVIL
The rev'rend pile lay wild and waste,
1?rofan'd, dishonour'd, and defac'd.