When in came a moth at the window, And flutter'd about St. Jude. St. James hath fallen in the socket, And before the flame and the molten wax That silly moth could kill, It hath beat out St. Jude with its wings, And St. James is burning still! Oh, that was a joy for Queen Mary's heart; The Prince of Aragon hath got Glory to Santiago, The mighty one in war! James he is call'd, and he shall be King James the Conqueror! Now shall the Crescent wane, The Cross be set on high In triumph upon many a Mosque; Woe, woe to Maw'netry! Valencia shall be subdued; Majorca shall be won; The Moors be routed every where; Joy, joy, for Aragon! Shine brighter now, ye stars, that crown Our Lady del Pilar, And rejoice in thy grave, Cid Campeador, Ruydiez de Bivar! Keswick, 1829. ROPRECHT THE ROBBER. The story here versified is told by Taylor the Water Poet, in his "Three Weeks, Three Days, and Three Hours' Observations from London to Hamburgh, in Germany; amongst Jews and Gentiles, with Descriptions of Towns and Towers, Castles and Citadels, artificial Gallowses and natural Hangmen; and dedicated for the present to the absent Odcombian Knight Errant, Sir Thomas Coryat." It is in the volume of his collected works, p. 82, of the third paging. Collein, which is the scene of this story, is more probably Kollen on the Elbe, in Bohemia, or a town of the same name in Prussia, than Cologne, to which great city the reader will perceive I had good reasons for transferring it. PART I. ROPRECHT the Robber is taken at last; But though pardon cannot here be bought, It may for the other world, he thought; And so, to his comfort, with one consent The Friars assured their penitent. Money, they teach him, when rightly given, All Saints, whose shrines are in that city, They tell him, will on him have pity, Seeing he hath liberally paid, In this time of need, for their good aid. In the Three Kings they bid him confide, And also a sharer he shall be In the merits of their community; All which they promise, he need not fear, Through Purgatory will carry him clear. Though the furnace of Babylon could not compare Yet they their part will so zealously do, And they will help him to die well, For buried Roprecht must not be; Seen is that gibbet far and wide To see him there by day and by night; So the Friars assisted, by special grace, In his suit of irons he was hung; They sprinkled him then, and their psalm they sung; And turning away when this duty was paid, They said, What a goodly end he had made! The crowd broke up, and went their way; Would hold him down a single day, There was no keeping Vampires under ground; But fire, they said, had been proved to be So they were for burning the body outright, Others were for searching the mystery out, For that there were Witches in the land, Some were for this, and some for that, PART IV. PIETER SNOYE was a boor of good renown, For Father Kijf he sought about, But the Father Confessor wondered to see The good Priest did not wonder less I confessed thee some ten days ago! "Thy conscience, methinks, may be well at rest, An honest man among the best; I would that all my flock, like thee, Kept clear accounts with Heaven and me!" Always before, without confusion, Being sure of easy absolution, Pieter his little slips had summ'd; The Confessor then gave a start in fear — Pieter Snoye, who was looking down, And look'd up with more of a frown than a "Fifty years I, Pieter Snoye, Have lived in this country, man and boy, "The Devil himself, though Devil he be, The Father, he saw, cast a gracious eye Like what a cheerful cup will impart, "Though I am, as you very well know, Father Kijf, "However, it needs must be confess'd, That some might perhaps into trouble be brought. "Under the seal I tell it you, And you will judge what is best to do, That no hurt to me and my son may ensue. No earthly harm have we intended, And what was ill done has been well mended. "I and my son, Piet Pieterszoon, Were returning home by the light of the moon, "About midnight it was we were passing by, My son, Piet Pieterszoon, and I, When we heard a moaning as we came near, But he hesitated now, and he haw'd, and humm'd. Which made us quake at first for fear. And something so strange the Father saw At length it came out, that in the affair เ "But the moaning was presently heard again, "So under the gallows our cart we drive, Because of the irons that he was in, "The reason why things had got thus wrong, "Had not Roprecht put in the Saints his hope, "Yes, she said, it was perfectly clear "Now Roprecht, as long as the people were there, Having been brought there just at the minute. Never stirr'd hand or foot in the air; But when at last he was left alone, By that time so much of his strength was gone, "Piet and I had been sitting it out, "Father Kijf, we could not bear "And, as you know, all people said "My son, Piet Pieterszoon, and I, We took him down, seeing none was nigh; "The secret, as you may guess, was known "Good advice, moreover, as good could be, "You may well think we laughed in our sleeve, "Or that St. Ursula, who is in bliss, "Piet Pieterszoon, my son, and I, We thought them fools, but, as you shall see, "For I must tell you, Father Kijf, "And therefore it would become us to make An offering for this favor's sake To the Three Kings and the Virgins too, |