Part 31 (2/2)

And backward now and foravers the deep array; And on the tossing sea of steel, to and fro the standards reel; And the victorious trumpet-peal dies fitfully away

Yet one man for one moment stood out before the crowd; Well knoas he to all the Three, and they gave hi loud

”Noelcome, welcome, sextus! noelcome to thy home!

Why dost thou stay, and turn away? here lies the road to Rome”

Thrice look'd he at the city; thrice look'd he at the dead; And thrice came on in fury, and thrice turn'd back in dread; And, white with fear and hatred, scowl'd at the narroay Where, ing in a pool of blood, the bravest Tuscans lay

But meanwhile axe and lever haveabove the boiling tide

”Come back, come back, Horatius!” loud cried the Fathers all

”Back, Lartius! back, Herminius! back, ere the ruin fall!”

Back darted Spurius Lartius; Herminius darted back: And, as they pass'd, beneath their feet they felt the timbers crack

But when they turn'd their faces, and on the farther shore Saw brave Horatius stand alone, they would have cross'd once more

But with a crash like thunder fell every loosen'd beaht athwart the strea shout of triuhest turret-tops was splash'd the yellow foam

And, like a horse unbroken when first he feels the rein, The furious river struggled hard, and toss'd his tawnyto be free, And whirling down, in fierce career, battle to the sea

Alone stood brave Horatius, but constant still in mind; Thrice thirty thousand foes before, and the broad flood behind

”Doith him!” cried false sextus, with a smile on his pale face

”Now yield thee,” cried Lars Porsena, ”now yield thee to our grace”

Round turn'd he, as not deigning those craven ranks to see; Nought spake he to Lars Porsena, to sextus nought spake he; But he saw on Palatinus the white porch of his home; And he spake to the noble river that rolls by the towers of Rome

”O Tiber! father Tiber! to whom the Roe this day!”

So he spake, and speaking sheathed the good sword by his side, And with his harness on his back plunged headlong in the tide

No sound of joy or sorroas heard from either bank; But friends and foes in du where he sank; And when above the surges they saw his crest appear, All Rome sent forth a rapturous cry, and even the ranks of Tuscany Could scarce forbear to cheer

But fiercely ran the current, swollen high by , and he was sore in pain, And heavy with his arht hiain he rose

Never, I ween, did swi flood safe to the landing-place: But his liood father Tiber bare bravely up his chin

”Curse on him!” quoth false sextus; ”will not the villain drown?

But for this stay, ere close of day we should have sack'd the town!”

”Heaven help hi hiallant feat of arms was never seen before”

And now he feels the botto the Fathers to press his gory hands; And noith shouts and clapping, and noise of weeping loud, He enters through the River-Gate, borne by the joyous crowd

They gave hiht, As ht; And they h, And there it stands unto this day to witness if I lie

It stands in the Comitiu upon one knee: And underneath is written, in letters all of gold, How valiantly he kept the bridge in the brave days of old

And still his na unto the e the Volscian home; And wives still pray to Juno for boys with hearts as bold As his who kept the bridge so well in the brave days of old

And in the nights of winter, when the cold north-winds blow, And the long howling of the wolves is heard ae roars loud the teidus roar louder yet within; When the oldest cask is open'd, and the largest lalow in the e and old in circle around the firebrands close; When the girls are weaving baskets, and the lads are shaping bows; When the goodoodwife's shuttleand with laughter still is the story told, Hoell Horatius kept the bridge in the brave days of old

FOOTNOTES:

[L] For the sake of space a change has been made from the usual form of the poem

LII THE RAVEN

EDGAR ALLAN POE--1809-1849

Once upon a ht dreary, while I ponder'd, weak and weary, Over otten lore,-- While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there ca at my chamber-door