28 THE PRINCESS
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nd shook the songs, the whispers, and the shrieksOf the wild woods together ; and a VoiceWent with it, “ Follow, follow, thou shalt win.” Then, ere the silver sickle of that month 100Became her golden shield, I stole from courtWith Cyril and with Florian unperceived,Cat-footed thro’ the town and half in dreadTo hear my father’s clamor at our backsWith Ho! from some bay-window shake the night ;But all was quiet : from the bastion’d walls 106Like threaded spiders, one by one, we dropt,And flying reach’d the frontier : then we crostTo a livelier land ; and so by tilth and grange,And vines, and blowing bosks of wilderness, 110We gain’d the mother-city thick with towers,And in the imperial palace found the king. His name was Gama ; crack’d and small his voice,But bland the smile that like a wrinkling windOn glassy water drove his cheek in lines ; 115A little dry old man, without a star,Not like a king : three days he feasted us,And on the fourth I spake of why we came,And my betroth’d. “You do us, Prince,” he said,Airing a snowy hand and signet gem, 120“All honor. We remember love ourselvesIn our sweet youth : there did a compact pass 100-101. Before the crescent moon became full.106. Bastion’d, fortified with ramparts. 109. tilth, tilled land. grange, farmhouse. 110. bosk, a bush, a shrub. 111. mother-city, capital city. 116, without a star, with no decorations or orders of nobility. A+ mapa IR ee ee ke st ws a tr nee
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