But he was hardy as his lord,

Ay, 'twas,-- when Casimir was king-
And little cared for bed and board; John Casimir,-) was his page
But spirited and docile too,

Six summers in my earlier age ;
Whate'er was to be done, would do. A learned monarch, faith! was he,
Shaggy and swift, and strong of limb), And most unlike your majesty :
All Tartar-like he carried him;

He made no wars, and did not gain
Obey'd his voice, and came to cal

New realms to lose the

back again; And knew him in the midst of all :

And (save debates in Warsaw's diet) Though thousands were around, and Night, He reign'd in most unseemly quiet; Without a star, pursued her flight,

Not that he had no cares to vex, That steed from sunset until dawn

He loved the muses and the sex; His chief would follow like a fawn. And sometimes these so froward are,

They made him wish himself at war;

But soon his wrath being v'er, he took This done, Mazeppa spread his cloak,

Another mistress, or new book : And laid his lance beneath his oak,

And then he gave prodigious fêtesFelt if his arms in order good

All Warsaw gather'd round his gates The long day's march had well withstood

To gaze upon his splendid court, If still the powder fill'd the pan,

And dames, and chiefs, of princely port: And flints unloosen'd kept their lock

He was the Polish Solomon, His sabre's hilt and scabbard felt,

So sung his poets, all but one, And whether they had chafed his belt -

Who, being unpension'd, made a satire, And next the venerable man,

And boasted that he conld not flatter. From out his haversack and can,

It was a court of jousts and mimes, Prepared and spread his slender stock:

Where every courtier tried at rhymes ; And to the monarch and his men

Even I for once produced some verses, The whole or portion offer'd then With far less of inquietude

And sign'd my odes, Despairing Thirsis.

There was a certain Palatine, Than courtiers at a banquet would.

A count of far and high descent, And Charles of this his slender share

Rich as a salt-or silver-mine; With smiles partook a moment there, Ind he was proud, ye may divine, To force of cheer a greater show,

As if from heaven he had been sent: And seem above both wounds and woe;

He had such wealth in blood and ore And then he said _“ Of all our band,

As few could match beneath the throne; Though firm of heart and strong of hand, And he would gaze upon his store, In skirmish, march, or forage, none

And o'er his pedigree would pore, Can less have said, or more have done,

Until by some confusion led, Than thee, Mazeppa! On the earth

Which almost look'd like want of head, So fit a pair had never birth,

He thought their merits were his own. Since Alexander's days till now,

His wife was not of his opinionAs thy Bucephalus and thou:

His junior she by thirty years— All Scythia's fame to thine should yield Grew daily tired of his dominion ; For pricking on o'er flood and field.”

And after wishes, hopes, and fears, Mazeppa answer'd _“ III betide

To virtue a few farewell tears, The school wherein I learn’d to ride!” Quoth Charles—Old hetman, wherefore 30, At Warsaw's youth, some songs, and dances,

A restless dream or two, some glances Since thou hast learn'd the art so well?”

Awaited but the usual chances, Mazeppa said " "Twere long to tell;

Those happy accidents which render And we have many a league to go The coldest dames so very tender, With every now and then a blow,

To deck her Count with titles given, And ten to one at least the foe,

'Tis said, as passports into heaven ; Before our steeds may graze at ease

But, strange to say, they rarely boast Beyond the swift Borysthenes:

Of these who have deserved them most. And, Sire, your limbs have need of rest, And I will be the sentinel Of this your troop."_" But I request,".

" I was a goodly stripling then; Said Sweden's monarch, “thou wilt tell

At seventy years

i

so may say, This tale of thine, and I may reap That there were few, or boys or men, Perchance from this the boon of sleep,

Who, in my dawning time of day, For at this moment from my eyes

Of vassal or of knight's degree, The hope of present slumber flies."

Could vie in vanities with me;

For I had strength, youth, gaiety, “Well, Sire, with such a hope, I'll track A port not like to this ye see, My seventy years of memory back: But smooth, as all is rugged now; I think 'twas in my twentieth spring, -- For time, and care, and war, have plough'd

did pass

My very soul from out my brow; A frivolous and foolish play,
And thus I should be disavow'd

Wherewith we while away the day;
By all my kind and kin, could they It is—I have forgot the name
Compare my day and yesterday;

And we to this, it seems, were set,
This change was wrought, too, long ere age By some strange chance, which I forget:
Had ta'en my features for his page :

I reck'd not if I won or lost,
With years, ye know, have not declined It was enough for me to be
My strength, my courage, or my mind, So near to hear, and oh! to see
Or at this hour I should not be

The being whom I loved the most.
Telling old tales beneath a tree,

I watch'd

her as a sentinel, With starless skies my canopy.

(May ours this dark night watch as well!) But let me on: Theresa's form

Until I saw, and thus it was, Methinks it glides before me now, That she was pensive, nor perceived Between me and yon chestnut's bough, Her occupation, nor was grieved The memory is so quick and warm; Nor glad to lose or gain; but still And yet I find no words to tell

Play'd on for hours, as if her will The shape of her I loved so well : Yet bound her to the place, though not She had the Asiatic eye,

That hers might be the winning lot. Such as our Turkish neighbourhood Then through my brain the thought Hath mingled with our Polish blood, Dark as above us is the sky;

Even as a flash of lightning there, But through it stole a tender light, That there was something in her air Like the first moonrise at midnight;

Which would not doom me to despair; Large, dark, and swimming in the stream, And on the thought my words broke forth, Which seemd to melt to its own beam; All incoherent as they wereAll love, half languor, and half fire, Their eloquence was little worth, Like saints that at the stake expire, But yet she listen'd—'lis enoughAnd lift their raptured looks on high, Who listens once will listen twice ; As though it were a joy to die.

Her heart, be sure, is not of ice,
A brow like a midsummer-lake,

And one refusal no rebuff.
Transparent with the sun therein,
When waves no murmur dare to make,
And heaven beholds her face within.

“I loved, and was beloved again-
A cheek and lip-but why proceed ? They tell me, Sire, you never knew
I loved her then- I love her still; Those gentle frailties ; if 'tis true,
And such as I am, love indeed

I shorten all my joy or pain, In fierce extremes—in good and ill. To you 'twould seem absurd as vain; But still we love even in our rage,

But all men are not born to reign, And haunted to our very age

Or o'er their passions, or as you With the vain shadow of the past,

Thus o'er themselves and nations too, As is Mazeppa to the last.

I am-or rather was—a prince,
A chief of thousauds, and could lead

Them on where each would foremost bleed “We met—we gazed—I saw, and sigh’d, But could not o'er myself evince She did not speak, and yet replied ;

The like control-But to resume: There are ten thousand tones and signs I loved, and was beloved again : We hear and see, but none defines- In sooth, it is a happy doom, Involuntary sparks of thought,

But yet where happiest ends in pain. Which strike from out the heart o'er- We met in secret, and the hour

wrought,

Which led me to that lady's bower And form a strange intelligence,

Was fiery Expectation's dower. Alike mysterious and intense,

My days and nights were nothing-all Which link the burning chain that binds, Except that hour, which doth recal Without their will, young hearts and minds; In the long lapse from youth to age Conveying, as the electric wire,

No other like itself-I'd give
We know not how, the absorbing fire.- The Ukraine back again to live
I saw, and sigh'd-in silence wept, It o'er once more-- and be a page,
And still reluctant distance kept,

The happy page, who was the lord
Until I was made known to her,

Of one soft heart, and his own sword, And we might then and there confer And had no other gem nor wealth Without suspicionthen, even then, Save nature's gift of youth and health. I long'd, and was resolved to speak; We met in secret-doubly sweet, But on my lips they died again,

Some say, they find it so to meet; The accents tremulous and weak,

I know not that -- I would have given Until one hour. There is a game, My life but to have callid her mine

In the full view of earth and heaven; "Away !-away!--My breath was gone -
For I did oft and long repine

I saw not where he hurried on :
That we could only meet by stealth. 'Twas scarcely yet the break of day,

And on he foam'd-away!--away!

The last of human sounds which rose, * Por lovers there are many eyes, And such there were on us;- the devil

As I was darted from my foes,

Was the wild shout of savage laughter, On such occasions should be civil The devil!-- I'm loth to do him wrong,

Which on the wind came roaring after

A moment from that rabble rout : It might be some nntoward saint,

With sudden wrath I wrench'd my head, Who would not be at rest too long, But to his pious bile gave vent

And snapp'd the eord, which to the mane But one fair night, some lurking spies

Had bound my neck in lieu of rein, Surprised and seized us both.

And, writhing half my form about, The Count was something more

Howl'd back my curse; but ʼmidst the tread, than

The thunder of my courser's speed,

wroth I was unarm'd; but if in steel,

Perchance they did not hear nor heed :

It vexes me-for I would fain All cap-à-pie from head to heel,

Have paid their insult back again. What 'gainst their numbers could I do? – 'Twas near his castle, far away

I paid it well in after-days:

There is not of that castle-gate,
From city or from succour near,
And almost on the break of day;

Its drawbridge and portcullis' weight, I did not think to see another,

Stone, bar, moat, bridge, or barrier left ;

Nor of its ficlds a blade of grass, My moments seem'd reduced to few;

Save what grows on a ridge of wall, And with one prayer to Mary Mother,

Where stood the hearth-stone of the hall; And, it may be, à saint or two, As I resign'd me to my fate,

And many a time ye there might pass,

Nor dreain that e'er that fortress was : They led me to the castle-gate :

I saw its turrets in a blaze,
Theresa's doom I never knew,
Our lot was henceforth separate.-

Their crackling battlements all cleft,

And the hot lead pour down like rain An angry man, ye may opine,

From off the scorch'd and blackening roof, Was he, the proud Count Palatine;

Whose thickness was not vengeance-proof. And he had reason good to be,

They little thought that day of pain, But he was most enraged lest such

When launchd, as on the lightning's flash, An accident should chance to touch Upon his future pedigree;

They bade me to destruction dash,

That one day I should come again, Nor less ainazed, that such a blot

With twice live thousand horse to thank His noble 'scutcheon should have got,

The Count for his uncourteous ride.
While he was highest of his line;
Because unto himself he seem'd

They play'd me then a bitter prank,

When, with the wild horse for my guide, The first of men, nor less he deem'd

They bound me to his foaming flank: In others' eyes, and most in mine. Sdeath! with a page-- perchance a king

At length I play'd them one as frank

For time at last sets all things evenHad reconciled him to the thing;

And if we do but watch the hour,
But with a stripling of a page-
I felt-but cannot paint his rage.

There never yet was human power
Which could evade, if unforgiven,

The patient search and vigil long
• “Bring forth the horse !"- the horse was of him who treasures up a wrong.

brought; In truth, he was a noble steed, A Tartar of the Ukraine breed,

“Away, away, my steed and I, Who look'd as though the speed of thought Upon the pinions of the wind, Were in his limbs; but he was wild, All human dwellings left behind : Wild as the wild deer, and untaught, We sped, like meteors through the sky, With spur and bridle undefiled –

When with its crackling sour the night 'Twas but a day he had been caught; Is chequer'd with the northern light: And snorting, with erected mane, Town-village--none were on our track, And struggling fiercely, but in vain, But a wild plain of far extent, In the full foam of wrath and dread And bounded by a forest black; To me the desert-born was led:

And, save the scarce seen battlement They bound me on, that menial throng, On distant heights of some strong hold, Upon his back with many a thong ; Against the Tartars built of old, Then loosed him with a sudden lash- No trace of man. The year before Away!-away!-- and on we dash !-- A Turkish army had march'd o'er ; Torrents less rapid and less rash.

And where the Spahi's houf hath trod,

The verdure flies the bloody sod :- And through the night had heard their feet
The sky was dull, and dim, and gray, Their stealing, rustling step repeat.
And a low breeze crept moaning by Oh! how I wish'd for spear or sword,
I could have answer'd with a sigh) At least to die amidst the horde,
But fast we fled, away, away-

And perish-if it must be so-
And I could neither sigh nor pray; At bay, destroying many a foe.
And my cold sweat-drops fell like rain When first my courser's race begun,
Upon the courser's bristling mane: I wish'd the goal already won;
But, snorting still with rage and fear, But now I doubted strength and speed.
He flew upon his far career:

Vain doubt! his swift and savage breed At times I almost thought, indeed, Had nerved him like the mountain-roc; He must have slackend in his speed: Nor faster falls the blinding snow But no-my bound and slender frame Which whelms the peasant near the door Was nothing to his angry might,

Whose threshold he shall cross no more, And merely like a spur became :

Bewilder'd with the dazzling blast, Each motion which I made to free Than through the forest-paths he pastMy swoln limbs from their agony

Untired, untamed, and worse than wild; Increased his fury and affright:

All furious as a favour'd child I tried my voice. --'twas faint and low, Balk'd of its wish; or fiercer still But yet he swerved as from a blow; A woman piqued—who has her will. And, starting to each accent, sprang As from a sudden trumpet's clang: Meantime my cords were wet with gore, “The wood was past ; 'twas more thin Which, oozing through my limbs, ran o'er;

noon; And in my tongue the thirst became But chill the air, although in June; A something fierier far than flame. Or it might be my veins ran cold

Prolong'd endurance tames the bold :

And I was then not what I seem, “We neard the wild wood—twas so wide, But headlong as a wintry stream, I saw no bounds on either side;

And wore my feelings out before 'Twas studded with old sturdy trees, I well conld count their causes o'er: That bent not to the roughest breeze And what with fury, fear, and wrath, Which howls down froin Siberia's waste, The tortures which beset my path, And strips the forest in its haste,

Cold, hunger, sorrow, shame, distress, But these were few, and far between Thus bound in nature's nakedness; Set thick with shrubs more young and green, Sprung from a race whose rising blood Luxuriant with their anmuial leaves, When stirr'd beyond its calmer mood, Ere strown by those autumnal eves And trodden hard upon, is like That nip the forest's foliage dead, The rattle-snakc's, in act to strike, Discolour'd with a lifeless red,

What maryel if this worn out trunk Which stands thereon like stiffen'd gore Beneath its woes a moment sunk? Upon the slain when battle's o'er,

The earth gave way, the skies rollid round, And some long winter's night hath shed I seem'd to sink npon the ground; Its frost o'er every tombless head,

But err’d, for I was fastly bound. So cold and stark the raven's beak

My heart turn'd sick, my brain grew gore, May peck unpierced each frozen cheek : And throbb’d awhile, then beat no more : Twas a wild waste of underwood, The skies spun like a mighty wheel ; 'And here and there a chesnut stood, I saw the trees like drunkards reel, The strong oak, and the hardy pine; And a slight flash sprang o'er my eyes, But far apart—and well it were,

Which saw no farther: he who dies Or else a different lot were mine

Can die no more than then I died. The boughs gave way, and did not tear O’ertortured by that ghastly ride, My limbs ; and I found strength to bear I felt the blackness come and go, My wounds, already scarr'd with cold -- And strove to wake; but could not make My bonds forbade to loose my hold. My senses climb up from below; We rustled through the leaves like wind, I felt as on a plank at sea, Left shrubs, and trees, and wolves behind ; When all the waves that dash o'er thee, By night I heard them on the track, At the same time upheave and whelm, Their troop came hard upon our back, And hurl thee towards a desert realm. With their long gallop, which can tire My undulating life was as The hound's deep hate, and hunter's fit; The fancied lights that fitting pass Where'er we flew they follow'd on, Our shut eyes in deep midnight, when Nor left us with the morning-sun; Fever begins upon the brain; Behind I saw them, scarce a rood,

But soon it pass’d, with little pain, At day-break winding through the wood, But a confusion worse than such :

:

I own that I should deem it much, Reminding me, through every ill,
Dying, to feel the same again;

of the abodes of men.
And yet I do suppose we must
Feel far more ere we turn to dust :

“Onward we went, but slack and slow; No matier; I have bared my brow

His savage force at length o’erspent, Full in Death's face-before--and now.

The drooping courser, faint and low,

All feebly foaming went. “My thoughts came back; where was I? A sickly infant had had power

Cold,

To guide him forward in that hour; And numb, and giddy: pulse by pulse

But useless all to me. Life reassumed its lingering hold,

His new-born tameness nought avail'd, And throb by throb ; till grown a pang

My limbs were bound; my force had faild, Which for a moment would convulse,

Perchance, had they been free. My blood reflow'd, though thick and With feeble effort still I tried

chill;

To rend the bounds so starkly tiedMy ear with uncouth noises rang,

But still it was in vain; My heart began once more to thrill;

My limbs were only wrung the morc, My sight return'd, though dim; alas !

And soon the idle strife gave o'er, And thicken'd, as it were, with glass.

Which but prolong‘d their pain: Methought the dash of waves was nigh;

The dizzy race seem'd almost done, There was a gleam too of the sky,

Although no goal was nearly won: Studded with stars; - it is no dream;

Some streaks announced the coming sun The wild horse swin the wilder stream! How slow, alas ! he came ! The bright broad river's gushing tide

Methought that mist of dawning gray Sweeps, winding onward, far and wide,

Would never dapple into day : And we are half-way struggling o'er

How heavily it rollid away

Before the eastern flame
To yon unknown and silent shore.
The waters broke my hollow trance,

Rose crimson, and deposed the stars,
And with a temporary strength

And callid the radiance from their cars, My stiffen'd limbs were rebaptized.

And fill'd the earth, from his deep throne, My courser's broad breast proudly braves, With lonely lustre, all his own. And dashes off the ascending waves And onward we advance!

“Up rose the sun ; the mists were curl'd We reach the slippery shore at length,

Back from the solitary world A haven I but little prized,

Which lay around-behind – before : For all behind was dark and drear,

What booted it to traverse o'er And all before was night and fear.

Plain, forest, river? Man nor brute, How many hours of night or day

Nor dint of hoof, nor print of foot, In those suspended pangs I lay,

Lay in the wild luxuriant soil; I could not tell; I scarcely knew

No sign of travel - none of toil; If this were human breath I drew.

The very air was mute;

And not an insect's shrill small horn, "With glossy skin, and dripping mane, Nor matin bird's new voice was borno And reeling limbs, and reeking flank,

From herb nor thicket. Many a werst, The wild steed's sinewy nerves still strain Panting as if his heart would burst, Up the repelling bank.

The weary brute still stagger'd on; We gain the top: a boundless plain And still we were- or seem'd-alone: Spreads through the shadow of the night, At length, while reeling on our way, And onward, onward, onward, seems Methought I heard a courser neigh, Like precipices in our dreams,

From out yon tuft of blackening firs. To stretch beyond the sight;

Is it the wind those branches stirs ? And here and there a speck of white, No, no! from out the forest prance Or scatter'd spot of dusky green,

A trampling troop; I see them come! In masses broke into the light,

In one vast squadron they advance ! As rose the moon upon my right.

I strove to cry-my lips were dumb. But nought distinctly seen

The steeds rush on in plunging pride; In the dim waste, would indicate But where are they the reins to guide ? The omen of a cottage-gate;

A thousand horse - and none to ride! No twinkling taper from afar

With flowing tail, and flying mane, Stood like an hospitable star;

Wide nostrils - never stretch'd by pain, Not even an ignis-fatuus rose

Mouths bloodless to the bit or rein,
To make him weary with my woes :

And feet that iron never shod,
That very cheat had cheerd me then! And flanks unscarr'd by spur or rod.
Although detected, welcome still,

thousand horse, the wild, the free,