mazelli and other poems(马兹里)-第20节
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mist…spirit dwells in his palace of cloud! Where the evil ones gather in
envious wrath; To blight and to blast;towered up in her path。
Still her cheek kept its glow; still her eye flashed in pride; As onward
she flew up the steep mountain side; And fierce as the tempest; and fleet as
the wind; Stern Bohdo; the ruthless; still followed behind。
To a fearful abyss; whose unhallowed name(3) By the powers of
darkness was given; she came; And the whirlpool's wild voice; from the
dark gulf below; Came up like the wail of a soul in its we。
Beyond rose the rocky shelf; barren and bare; Beneath lay the
whirlpool; around her despair; Behind her came one; sweeping on in the
chase; Whose grasp was more dreaded than death's cold embrace。
Then she called on the spirits who watch round the brave; In peril to
nerve; to assist and to save; Closed calmly her eyes; as one sinking in
sleep; And urged her proud steed to the terrible leap!
A moment it paused on the high precipice; Then sprang; boldly sprang;
o'er the frightful abyss! And struck its firm hoof in the rock till the sound
Shook the hills; and the sparks flew like lightning around!
And the foot…print it left has remained to this day; And no rain…flood or
tempest shall wear it away; She was savedthe brave Emma was saved
but her crown; From her fair brow unloosed; in the whirlpool sank down。
On; on came the chief; in his fierceness and wrath; Nor saw he the
wide gulf that yawned in his path; And soon; in the depths of its
fathomless tide; The warrior and war…steed were laid side by side。
And the mountaineer tells how in sullen despair; His ghost;
imannealed of its sins; lingers there; Ever watching; pale; silent; untiring;
unmoved; The bright golden crown of the maiden he loved。
A diver once; lured by the wealth of the prize; Sought out the deep
cave where it lay; and still lies; And where; chained by a spirit…breathed
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Mazelli; and Other Poems
spell; it shall stay; Till the whirlpool and mountain alike pass away。
Twice he rose with the crown; till its gleaming points blazed On the
eyes of the wondering thousands who gazed; Twice it fell from his grasp;
and sank quickly again To the bed where for years undisturbed it had lain。
He followed;this effort the treasure may earn But vainly they watch
who await his return; A red hue of blood tinged the deep waters o'er; But
the diver came up from their dark depths no more。
1。 Bohdo。 This hero; as his character is drawn in the original legend; or
tradition; from which the material of these verses was taken (a tradition
which gives the popular account of the formation of an immense mark or
cavity in a rock; called the 〃Rosstrappe〃 or 〃Horse's footstep;〃) is worthy
of being enrolled among Odin's Berserker。
2。 Nimrod。 〃A mighty hunter before the Lord。〃 He built Babylon and
founded that royal line which terminated with the death of Sardanapalus;
whose gentleness and aversion to blood spilling; together with his passion
for his 〃Ionian Myrrha;〃 cost him an empire; and gained him an
immortality。
3。 〃It was named;〃 says the tradition; 〃The Devil's dancing…place; from
the triumph there of the spirits of hell。〃
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