The Monk - Matthew Gregory Lewis [127]
THE WATER-KING,
A Danish Ballad.
With gentle murmur flowed the tide,
While by the fragrant flowery side
The lovely maid, with carols gay,
To Mary’s church pursued her way.
The water-fiend’s malignant eye
Along the banks beheld her hie;
Straight to his mother-witch he sped,
And thus in suppliant accents said:
“Oh! mother! mother! now advise,
How I may yonder maid surprise:
Oh! mother! mother! now explain,
How I may yonder maid obtain.”
The witch, she gave him armour white;
She formed him like a gallant knight;
Of water clear next made her hand
A steed, whose housings were of sand.
The water-king then swift he went;
To Mary’s church his steps he bent:
He bound his courser to the door,
And paced the church-yard three times four.
His courser to the door bound he,
And paced the church-yard four times three:
Then hastened up the aisle, where all
The people flocked, both great and small.
The priest said, as the knight drew near,
“And wherefore comes the white chief here?”
The lovely maid, she smiled aside;
“Oh! would I were the white chief’s bride!”
He stepped o’er benches one and two;
“Oh! lovely maid, I die for you!”
He stepped o’er benches two and three;
“Oh! lovely maiden, go with me!”
Then sweet she smiled, the lovely maid;
And while she gave her hand, she said,
“Betide me joy, betide me woe,
O’er hill, o’er dale, with thee I go.”
The priest their hands together joins:
They dance, while clear the moon-beam shines;
And little thinks the maiden bright,
Her partner is the water-spright.
Oh! had some spirit deigned to sing,
“Your partner is the water-king!”
The maid had fear and hate confessed,
And cursed the hand which then she pressed.
But nothing giving cause to think
How near she strayed to danger’s brink,
Still on she went, and hand in hand
The lovers reached the yellow sand.
“Ascend this steed with me, my dear!
We needs must cross the streamlet here:
Ride boldly in; it is not deep;
The winds are hushed, the billows sleep.”
Thus spoke the water-king. The maid
Her traitor bride-groom’s wish obeyed:
And soon she saw the courser lave
Delighted in his parent wave.
“Stop! stop! my love! The waters blue
E’en now my shrinking foot bedew.”
“Oh! lay aside your fears, sweet heart!
We now have reached the deepest part.”
“Stop! stop! my love! For now I see
The waters rise above my knee.”
“Oh! lay aside your fears, sweet heart!
We now have reached the deepest part.”
“Stop! stop! for God’s sake, stop! For, oh!
The waters o’er my bosom flow!”—
Scarce was the word pronounced, when knight
And courser vanished from her sight.
She shrieks, but shrieks in vain; for high
The wild winds rising dull the cry;
The fiend exults; the billows dash,
And o’er their hapless victim wash.
Three times, while struggling with the stream,
The lovely maid was heard to scream;
But when the tempest’s rage was o’er,
The lovely maid was seen no more.
Warned by this tale, ye damsels fair,
To whom you give your love beware!
Believe not every handsome knight,
And dance not with the water-spright!
The youth ceased to sing. The nuns were delighted with the sweetness of his voice, and masterly manner of touching the instrument; but however acceptable this applause would have been at any other time, at present it was insipid to Theodore. His artifice had not succeeded. He paused in vain between the stanzas; no voice replied to his, and he abandoned the hope of equalling Blondel.
The convent-bell now warned the nuns that it was time to assemble in the refectory. They were obliged to quit the grate: they thanked the youth for the entertainment which his music had afforded them, and charged him to return the next day. This he promised. The nuns, to give him the greater inclination to keep his word, told him that he might always depend upon the convent for his meals, and each of them made him some little present. One gave him a box of sweetmeats; another, an agnus dei; some brought reliques of saints, waxen images,