Hence, ye profane! I feel a former dread,
A thousand visions float around my head:
Hark! hollow blasts through empty courts resound
And shadowy forms with staring eyes stalk round;
See! moats and bridges, walls and castles rise,
Ghosts, fairies, demons, dance before our eyes;
Lo! magic verse inscribed on golden gate,
And bloody hand that beckons on to fate: —
"And who art thou, thou little page, unfold?
" Say, doth thy lord my Claribel withhold?
"Go tell him straight, Sir Knight, thou must resign
" The captive queen; — for Claribel is mine. "
Away he flies; and now for bloody deeds,
Black suits of armour, masks, and foaming steeds;
The giant falls; his recreant throat I seize,
And from his corslet take the massy keys: —
Dukes, lords, and knights in long procession move,
Released from bondage with my virgin love: —
She comes! she comes! in all the charms of youth,
Unequall'd love, and unsuspected truth!