Earl Adam Hepburn, he who died She neʼer shall see his gallant train XIII. And here two days did Marmion rest, Such the command of royal James; Oft cheer the Baron's moodier fit; And, in his turn, he knew to prize Lord Marmion's powerful mind, and wise,Trained in the lore of Rome, and Greece, And policies of war and peace. XIV. It chanced, as fell the second night, That on the battlements they walked, And, by the slowly fading light, Of varying topics talked; And, unaware, the Herald-bard Said, Marmion might his toil have spared, In travelling so far; For that a messenger from heaven In vain to James had counsel given And, closer questioned, thus he told In Scottish story have enrolled: XV. Sir David Lindesay's Tale. Of all the palaces so fair, In Scotland, far beyond compare Linlithgow is excelling; And in its park, in jovial June, a The wild buck bells from ferny brake, The coot dives merry on the lake, The saddest heart might pleasure take But June is to our Sovereign dear Woe to the traitors, who could bring a An ancient word for the cry of deer. See Note. The princely boy against his King! Still in his conscience burns the sting. In offices as strict as Lent, King James's June is ever spent. XVI. "When last this ruthful month was come, And in Linlithgow's holy dome The King, as wont, was praying; While for his royal father's soul The chaunters sung, the bells did toll, For now the year brought round again And eyes with sorrow streaming; Around him, in their stalls of state, The Thistle's Knight-Companions sate, Their banners o'er them beaming. I too was there, and, sooth to tell, It seemed as I were dreaming. That, when I saw his placid grace, His solemn bearing, and his pace So stately gliding on ; Seemed to me ne'er did limner paint So just an image of the Saint, Who propped the Virgin in her faint, The loved Apostle John. |