Robert Southey - Madoc, Volume 1

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XVII.

Madoc, meantime, in bonds and solitude,

Lay listening to the tumult. How his heart

Panted! how, then, with Fruitless strength, he strove

And struggled for enlargement, as the sound

Of battle, from without the city, came;

,While all things near were still, nor foot of man,

Nor voice, in that deserted part, were heard.

At length one light and solitary step

Approached the place; a woman crossed the door.

From Madoc's busy mind her image passed,

Quick as the form that caused it; but not so

Did the remembrance fly from Coatel,

That Madoc lay in bonds. That thought possessed

Her soul, and made her, as she garlanded

The fane of Coatlantona with flowers,

Tremble in strong emotion.

VOL. II. B

It was now
Tbe hour of dusk; the Pabas all were gone,
Gone to the battle; .. none could see her steps;
The gate was nigh. A momentary thought
Shot through her; she delayed not to reflect,
But hastened to the Prince, and took the knife
Of sacrifice, that by the altar hung,
And cut his bonds, and, with an eager eye,
Motioning haste and silence, to the gate
She led him. Fast along the forest way,
And fearfully, he followed to the chasm.
She beckoned, and descended, and drew out,
From underneath her vest, a cage, or net
It rather might be called, so fine the twigs
Which knit it, where, confined, two fire-flies gave
Their lustre. By that light did Madoc first
Behold the features of his lovely guide;
And through tbe entrance of the cavern gloom,
He followed in full trust.

Now have they reached
The abrupt descent; there Coatel held forth
Her living lamp, and turning, with a smile,
Sweet as good Angels wear when they present
Their mortal charge before the throne of Heaven,
She showed where little Hoel slept below.

Of her dear father, whom that flight would leave
Alone in age; how he would weep for her,
As one among the dead, and to the grave
Go sorrowing; or, if ever it were known
What she had dared, that on his head the weight
Of punishment would fall. That dreadful fear
Resolved her, and she waved her head, and raised
Her hand, to bid the Prince depart in haste,
With looks, whose painful seriousness forbade
All farther effort. Yet unwillingly,
And boding evil, Madoc from the shore
Pushed off his little boat. She on its way
Stood gazing for a moment, lost in thought,
Then struck into the woods.

Swift through the lake
Madoc's strong arm impelled the light canoe.
Fainter and fainter, to his distant ear,
The sound of battle came; and now the Moon
Arose in heaven, and poured o'er lake and land
A soft and mellowing ray. Along the shore
Llaian was wandering, with distracted steps,
And groaning for her child. She saw the boat
Approach; and as on Madoc's naked limbs,
And on his countenance, the moonbeam fell,
And as she saw the boy in that dim light,

A sudden damp of dread came over her, ..
O leave us not! she cried; lest haply ill
Should have befallen! for I remember now,
How in the woods I saw a savage band
Making toward Caermadoc, and I hid,
Lest they should stop my going. God forefend
The evil that I fear! .. What! Madoc cried,
Were ye then left defenceless? .. She replied,
All fled to arms: there was no time for thought,
Nor counsel, in that sudden ill; nor one