Page:Harold the Dauntless - Scott (1817).djvu/47
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Canto I.
HAROLD THE DAUNTLESS.
37
Ever Renown blows a note of fame,
And a note of fear, when she sounds his name:
Much of bloodshed and much of scathe
Have been their lot who have waked his wrath.
Leave him these lands and lordships still,
Heaven in its hour may change his will;
But if reft of gold, and of living bare,
An evil counsellor is despair."—
More had he said, but the prelate frown'd,
And murmur'd his brethren, who sate around,
And with one consent have they given their doom,
That the church should the lands of Saint Cuthbert resume.
And a note of fear, when she sounds his name:
Much of bloodshed and much of scathe
Have been their lot who have waked his wrath.
Leave him these lands and lordships still,
Heaven in its hour may change his will;
But if reft of gold, and of living bare,
An evil counsellor is despair."—
More had he said, but the prelate frown'd,
And murmur'd his brethren, who sate around,
And with one consent have they given their doom,
That the church should the lands of Saint Cuthbert resume.