Story and Song of Black Roderick | Page 7

bride.
As he lay upon the heather, he heard the shrill voice of his little brother
clamoring by his side.
"Be still," quoth he, "for thou hast frightened away a fair dream that I
fain would follow."
"But I would tell thee," said the little brother, "of a strange thing, and
one to set thee full of laughter."
"Nay," quoth the Black Earl, "of that I have no desire, lest thou place
upon my head a cap and bells, and call me fool Roderick."
"And wherefore," said the little brother, "shouldst thou laugh at fool
Roderick?"
"Because," quoth the Black Earl, "he hath found a strange jewel when
he hath lost it."
"Thy words I do not understand," saith the little brother. "What was the
strange jewel that he hath and yet hath not?"
"Love," quoth the Black Earl.
"That neither do I understand," saith the little brother, "but now thou
must listen to my story."
And of what he saith shall I sing, for his voice was sweeter than prose:
_"Oh, brother, brother, come up to the lake waters gray, Come up to the
shore where I play; For, oh! I saw on the bank asleep A fair white
nymph, and the slow waves creep, To bear her away, away._
_"Oh, brother, brother, I watched her through the day, Saw her hair
grow jewelled with spray. Once her cheek was brushed by a robin's
wing, And a finch flew down on her hand to sing, And was not afraid
to stay._
_"Oh, brother, brother, will she soon awaken be? I would that she laugh
with me. She sleeps, and the world so full of sound; She's deaf, like the
deaths that are under the ground, That I laugh and laugh to see."_
Now shall I tell how the Black Earl heeded not the story of the little
brother, nor the tragedy that lay therein, for his ear was busy with
another sound.
"Hush," said the Black Earl, "for hearest thou not a voice in trouble?"

"Nay," cried the little brother; "I hear naught save the laughing stream
that comes from the lake where my water-nymph lieth."
"Hush!" said the Black Earl again, "for hearest thou not the voice of my
mistress making a lamentation?"
"Nay," saith the little brother; "I hear naught save the moving of the
reeds in the pushing waters, and thou wilt not listen to my story."
Now went the little brother away in his anger, and found himself a play
among the heather.
But the Black Earl bent above the stream and gazed long into its
shallow turbulence with wonder and fear, for the words the stream said
to him in its whisperings were as though spoken in the voice of his
young bride.
He laid his hand in the flowing waters.
"Why art thou troubled, little stream?" quoth he.
But the little stream stayed not its whispering.
"Sainted Mother, oh, pray for me!" it murmured, in piteous prayer,
"and leave sweet mercy upon my soul."
Now, when the Black Earl heard the voice of his lady coming from the
waters in such sorrow, he rose with a cry, and, his heart being full of
fear, he knew at last the greatness of his love.
"Where art thou, then?" he cried, in his woe. "Whither shall I seek
thee?"
But the little stream passing his feet murmured its prayer in going; no
other sound did he hear save the far-away laughter of his little brother.
"Oh, Mary, Mother, pray my soul to rest! Take mercy, Lord, on a soul
afraid."
"Where are the lips from which thou hast stolen that cry?" said the
Black Earl; and, like an old man bent with trouble, he sought the banks,
seeking for the white form of his bride. "Now," quoth he, "well do I
know this stream hath carried her last cry to my feet, and her drowning
lips have been forced to sinful death to-night by my long cruelty."
He went up the hill as a man goeth to despair, slow and afraid; and
when he reached the little wood in whose bosom the lake was
enshrined, he paused and looked around.
Of this shall I sing, for so sad and piteous it is that my harp would fain
soothe me from tears:
_He looked into the deep wood green, But nothing there did see; He

looked into the still water Beneath, all white, lay she._
_He drew her from her cold, cold bed, And kissed her cheek and chin;
Loosed from his neck his silken cloak, To wrap her body in._
_He took her up in his two arms-- His grief was deep and wild; He
knelt beside her on the sod, And sorrowed like a child._
_He blew three blasts upon his horn; His men did make