Were blindfold when transported there.
In low dark rounds the arches hung,

From the rude rock the side-walls sprung;

The grave-stones, rudely sculptured o'er,

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Half sunk in earth, by time half wore,

Were all the pavement of the floor;

The mildew-drops fell one by one,
With tinkling plash, upon the stone.

There, met to doom in secrecy,

Were placed the heads of convents three:

All servants of Saint Benedict,

The statutes of whose order strict

On iron table lay;

In long black dress, on seats of stone,

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Behind were these three judges shown

By the pale cresset's ray:

The Abbess of Saint Hilda's, there,
Sat for a space with visage bare,
Until, to hide her bosom's swell,
And tear-drops that for pity fell,

She closely drew her veil :

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Yon shrouded figure, as I guess,

By her proud mien and flowing dress,
Is Tynemouth's haughty Prioress,

And she with awe looks pale:

And he, that Ancient Man, whose sight
Has long been quench'd by age's night,
Upon whose wrinkled brow alone,
Nor ruth, nor mercy's trace, is shown,
Whose look is hard and, stern,—
Saint Cuthbert's Abbot is his style;
For sanctity call'd, through the isle,
The Saint of Lindisfarne.

XX.

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Before them stood a guilty pair;

But, though an equal fate they share,
Yet one alone deserves our care.

Her sex a page's dress belied;

The cloak and doublet, loosely tied,

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Obscured her charms, but could not hide.

Her cap down o'er her face she drew;
And, on her doublet breast,

She tried to hide the badge of blue,
Lord Marmion's falcon crest.

But, at the Prioress' command,
A Monk undid the silken band

That tied her tresses fair,

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When thus her face was given to view,

(Although so pallid was her hue,

It did a ghastly contrast bear
To those bright ringlets glistering fair),
Her look composed, and steady eye,

Bespoke a matchless constancy;

And there she stood so calm and pale,
That, but her breathing did not fail,
And motion slight of eye and head,
And of her bosom, warranted

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That neither sense nor pulse she lacks,

You might have thought a form of wax,
Wrought to the very life, was there;
So still she was, so pale, so fair.

XXII.

Her comrade was a sordid soul,

Such as does murder for a meed;

Who, but of fear, knows no control,
Because his conscience, sear'd and foul,

Feels not the import of his deed;
One, whose brute-feeling ne'er aspires
Beyond his own more brute desires.
Such tools the Tempter ever needs,
To do the savagest of deeds;

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For them no vision'd terrors daunt,

Their nights no fancied spectres haunt,
One fear with them, of all most base,

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The fear of death,-alone finds place.

This wretch was clad in frock and cowl,
And shamed not loud to moan and howl,

His body on the floor to dash,

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And crouch, like hound beneath the lash;
While his mute partner, standing near,
Waited her doom without a tear.

XXIII.

Yet well the luckless wretch might shriek,
Well might her paleness terror speak!
For there were seen in that dark wall,
Two niches, narrow, deep, and tall;—

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Who enters at such grisly door,
Shall ne'er, I ween, find exit more.
In each a slender meal was laid,
Of roots, of water, and of bread:
By each, in Benedictine dress,

Two haggard monks stood motionless;

Who, holding high a blazing torch,
Show'd the grim entrance of the porch :
Reflecting back the smoky beam,
The dark-red walls and arches gleam.

Hewn stones and cement were display'd,
And building tools in order laid.

XXIV.

These executioners were chose,

As men who were with mankind foes,
And with despite and envy fired,
Into the cloister had retired;

Or who, in desperate doubt of grace,
Strove, by deep penance, to efface

Of some foul crime the stain;

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They knew not how, and knew not where.

XXV.

And now that blind old Abbot rose,

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To speak the Chapter's doom,

On those the wall was to enclose,

Alive, within the tomb;

But stopp'd, because that woful Maid,
Gathering her powers, to speak essay'd.
Twice she essay'd, and twice in vain ;
Her accents might no utterance gain;

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Nought but imperfect murmurs slip
From her convulsed and quivering lip;
'Twixt each attempt all was so still,
You seem'd to hear a distant rill-
'Twas ocean's swells and falls;
For though this vault of sin and fear
Was to the sounding surge so near,
A tempest there you scarce could hear,
So massive were the walls.

XXVI.

At length, an effort sent apart
The blood that curdled to her heart,
And light came to her eye,

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And colour dawn'd upon her cheek,
A hectic and a flutter'd streak,

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'I speak not to implore your grace, Well know I, for one minute's space Successless might I sue:

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Nor do I speak your prayers to gain;
For if a death of lingering pain,

To cleanse my sins, be penance vain,
Vain are your masses too.—

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I listen'd to a traitor's tale,

I left the convent and the veil;

For three long years I bow'd my pride,

A horse-boy in his train to ride;

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