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HAROLD THE DAUNTLESS.
Canto I.
The fierce old Count unsheathed his brand,
But the calmer prelate stay'd his hand;
"Let him pass free!—Heaven knows its hour,—
But he must own repentance's power,
Pray and weep, and penance bear,
Ere he hold land by the Tyne and the Wear."—
Thus in scorn and in wrath from his father is gone
Young Harold the Dauntless, Count Witikind's son.
But the calmer prelate stay'd his hand;
"Let him pass free!—Heaven knows its hour,—
But he must own repentance's power,
Pray and weep, and penance bear,
Ere he hold land by the Tyne and the Wear."—
Thus in scorn and in wrath from his father is gone
Young Harold the Dauntless, Count Witikind's son.
XIII.
High was the feasting in Witikind's hall,
Revell'd priests, soldiers, and pagans, and all;
And e'en the good Bishop was fain to endure
The scandal which time and instruction might cure:
High was the feasting in Witikind's hall,
Revell'd priests, soldiers, and pagans, and all;
And e'en the good Bishop was fain to endure
The scandal which time and instruction might cure: