Fragment

Lord HUNTLY'S sheets were like the milk,
His couch was down, his curtains silk ;
Wrought on his gilded canopy
Were wolf, and hound, and fleur-de-lis ;
By him the loveliest lady lay
E'er hunted deer on bank of Spey : —
Nor bed of down, nor lady kind,
Brought peace or bliss to Huntly's mind.

Unearthly moans his ears assail ;
He heard a suffering infant wail ! —
The watch-dog howling to the gale.
The thunder's burst, the rattling hail,
The river roaring down the dale,
All nature seemed at enmity !

Why foamed that flood from shore to shore?
Why did the volleying thunder roar,
Fierce lightnings rend the rocking tower.
And crested clouds incumbent lower
In dark and dread condensity ?
Ah, heaven ! — that lady by his side —
That lady was not Huntly's bride !

When rose the morning clear and fair,
Why did the frighted menials stare,
Each knight and squire his weapon bare'
And maidens rend their flowing hair?
What ? — neither lord nor lady there !

Why o'er yon thicket's dusky ring,
Where sullen sloes and brambles cling,
Does the dark raven veering hing,
And mountain eagle flap her wing ?

Ah, horror to the searching eye !
What are those mangled fragments by,
All scattered, rent, and red that lie ?
Are these the limbs of prowling thief,
Of reaver stern, or robber thief ?
No, all that now remains they see
Of Huntly, flower of chivalry !
For, sooth, the beauty by his side
No lady was, nor Huntly 's bride.