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THE TROUBADOUR'S SONG.

BY FELICIA HEMANS.

SUPPOSED to be sung by Blondel, under the walls of a German castle, during his venturous search for his captive master, Richard Coeur de Lion, who, by singing the conclusion of the ballad, which had been one of his favourite compositions, discovered the place of his confinement to his generous follower, which proved the remote cause of his liberation. The anecdote is said to have its foundation in historical fact. The ballad, it is needless to add, is a modern adaptation.

BLONDEL.

"THY hour is come, and the stake is set!"
The Soldan cried to the captive knight,
"And the Sons of the Prophet in throngs are met,

To gaze on the fearful sight.

"But be our faith by thy lips professed,

The faith of Mecca's shrine;

Cast down the Red-Cross that marks thy vest,

And life shall yet be thine."

"I have seen the flow of my bosom's blood, And gazed with undaunted eye;

I have borne the bright Cross through fire and flood, And think'st thou I fear to die?

"I have stood where thousands, by Salem's towers, Have fall'n for the Name divine;

And the faith that cheered THEIR closing hours,
Shall be the light of MINE."

"Thus will thou die, in the pride of health,
And the glow of youth's fresh bloom!
Thou art offered life, and pomp, and wealth;

Or torture and the tomb."

"I have been where the crown of thorns was twined

For our dying Saviour's brow;

HE spurned the treasures that lure mankind,
And I reject them now!"

"Art thou the son of a noble line,

In a land that is fair and blest?

And doth not thy spirit, proud captive! pine
Again on its shores to rest?

"Thine own is the choice to hail once more

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The soil of thy father's birth;

Or to sleep, when thy lingering pangs are o'er,
Forgotten, in foreign earth.”

"Oh! fair are the vine-clad hills that rise,
In the country of my love;

But yet, though cloudless my native skies,
There's a brighter clime above!"

The Bard hath paused-for another tone
Blends with the music of his own;
And his heart beats high with hope again,
As a well-known voice prolongs the strain :—

KING RICHARD.

"Are there none within thy father's hall,

Far o'er the wide blue main,

Young Christian! left to deplore thy fall,

With sorrow deep and vain?"

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"There are hearts that have loved me through the past,

With holy love and true;

There are eyes, whose tears were streaming fast,

When I bade my home adieu.

"Better they wept o'er the warrior's bier,

Than th' apostate's living stain ;—

There's a land where those who loved when here,
Shall meet to love again."

-'Tis he! thy Prince—long sought, long lost;
The leader of the Red-Cross host!

'Tis he! to none thy joy betray,
Young Troubadour! away, away!
Away to the island of the brave,
The gem on the bosom of the wave;
Arouse the sons of the noble soil,
To win their lion from the toil;

And free the wassail-cup shall flow;
Bright in each hall the hearth shall glow;
The festal board shall be richly crowned,
While knights, and chieftains banquet round;
And a thousand harps with joy shall ring,
When merry England hails her King!

HISTORIC SCENES.

THE

HORN OF EGREMONT CASTLE.

BY W. WORDSWORTH.

WHEN the Brothers reached the gateway,
EUSTACE pointed with his lance

To the Horn which there was hanging-
Horn of the Inheritance.

Horn it was, which none could sound,

No one upon living ground,

Save he who came as rightful heir

To Egremont's domains and castle fair.

Heirs from ages, without record,

Had the House of Lucie born,
Who of right had claimed the lordship
By the proof upon the Horn.

Each, at the appointed hour,

Tried the Horn-it owned his power;
He was acknowledged—and the blast

Which good Sir Eustace sounded, was the last.

With his lance Sir Eustace pointed,

And to HUBERT thus said he"What I speak this Horn shall witness,

For thy better memory.

Hear then, and neglect me not!

At this time, and on this spot,

The words are uttered from my heart,
As my last earnest prayer ere we depart.

"On good service we are going,
Life to risk by sea and land,

In which course if Christ our Saviour
Do my sinful soul demand,
Hither come thou back straightway
Hubert, if alive that day,

Return and sound the Horn, that we

May have a living house still left in thee."

"Fear not!" quickly answered Hubert, "As I am thy father's son,

What thou askest, noble brother!

With God's favour, shall be done." So were both right well content; From the castle forth they went,

And, at the head of their array,

To Palestine the brothers took their way.

Side by side they fought (the Lucies
Were a line for valour famed),
And, where'er their strokes alighted,
There the Saracens were tamed.
Whence, then, could it come-the thought?
By what evil spirit brought?-

Oh! can a brave man wish to take

His brother's life, for lands and castle's sake?

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