III.
30 lines✦
change came o'er the spirit of my dream.There was an ancient mansion, and beforeIts walls there was a steed caparisoned:Within an antique Oratory stoodThe Boy of whom I spake;--he was alone,[44]And pale, and pacing to and fro: anon 80He sate him down, and seized a pen, and tracedWords which I could not guess of; then he leanedHis bowed head on his hands, and shook as 'twereWith a convulsion--then arose again,And with his teeth and quivering hands did tearWhat he had written, but he shed no tears.And he did calm himself, and fix his browInto a kind of quiet: as he paused,The Lady of his love re-entered there;She was serene and smiling then, and yet 90She knew she was by him beloved--she knew,For quickly comes such knowledge,[45] that his heartWas darkened with her shadow, and she sawThat he was wretched, but she saw not all.He rose, and with a cold and gentle graspHe took her hand; a moment o'er his faceA tablet of unutterable thoughtsWas traced, and then it faded, as it came;He dropped the hand he held, and with slow stepsRetired, but not as bidding her adieu, 100For they did part with mutual smiles; he passedFrom out the massy gate of that old Hall,And mounting on his steed he went his way;And ne'er repassed that hoary threshold more.[46]
✦