THE EXPIATION.
THE EXPIATION.
Full seven times the summer sunHad waked the dreaming summer flowers,And seven times they slept againBeneath the winter snow and showers;And still, through summer's parching heat,Through winter's storm, and rain, and snow,Had Thekla dragged her weary feetIn one long pilgrimage of woe.
Full seven times the summer sunHad waked the dreaming summer flowers,And seven times they slept againBeneath the winter snow and showers;And still, through summer's parching heat,Through winter's storm, and rain, and snow,Had Thekla dragged her weary feetIn one long pilgrimage of woe.
Full seven times the summer sunHad waked the dreaming summer flowers,And seven times they slept againBeneath the winter snow and showers;And still, through summer's parching heat,Through winter's storm, and rain, and snow,Had Thekla dragged her weary feetIn one long pilgrimage of woe.
Full seven times the summer sunHad waked the dreaming summer flowers,And seven times they slept againBeneath the winter snow and showers;And still, through summer's parching heat,Through winter's storm, and rain, and snow,Had Thekla dragged her weary feetIn one long pilgrimage of woe.
The beasts fled back at her approach,The sunshine ceased to flicker round,The flowers withered at her touch,And fell like corpses to the ground.Where'er she passed there lay a gloom,The young birds shivered in the nest,All nature echoed back her doom,And spurned the sinner from her breast.
The beasts fled back at her approach,The sunshine ceased to flicker round,The flowers withered at her touch,And fell like corpses to the ground.Where'er she passed there lay a gloom,The young birds shivered in the nest,All nature echoed back her doom,And spurned the sinner from her breast.
The beasts fled back at her approach,The sunshine ceased to flicker round,The flowers withered at her touch,And fell like corpses to the ground.Where'er she passed there lay a gloom,The young birds shivered in the nest,All nature echoed back her doom,And spurned the sinner from her breast.
The beasts fled back at her approach,The sunshine ceased to flicker round,The flowers withered at her touch,And fell like corpses to the ground.Where'er she passed there lay a gloom,The young birds shivered in the nest,All nature echoed back her doom,And spurned the sinner from her breast.
She flung her sighs out to the wind:The peasants heard that mournful wail,And, crouching down by winter fires,Said: "'Tis the witch-fiend in the vale."They laid down food beneath the trees,And waited, trembling, till she came,Then fled away, for none would speakTo one so bann'd by sin and shame.
She flung her sighs out to the wind:The peasants heard that mournful wail,And, crouching down by winter fires,Said: "'Tis the witch-fiend in the vale."They laid down food beneath the trees,And waited, trembling, till she came,Then fled away, for none would speakTo one so bann'd by sin and shame.
She flung her sighs out to the wind:The peasants heard that mournful wail,And, crouching down by winter fires,Said: "'Tis the witch-fiend in the vale."They laid down food beneath the trees,And waited, trembling, till she came,Then fled away, for none would speakTo one so bann'd by sin and shame.
She flung her sighs out to the wind:The peasants heard that mournful wail,And, crouching down by winter fires,Said: "'Tis the witch-fiend in the vale."They laid down food beneath the trees,And waited, trembling, till she came,Then fled away, for none would speakTo one so bann'd by sin and shame.
She gathered autumn leaves and mossWithin a cavern lone and deep,And there she crept each night to rest,To rest, but never more to sleep.No human voice came near to soothe,Her anguish dimm'd no human eye,The bond of sisterhood was rentBetween her and Humanity.
She gathered autumn leaves and mossWithin a cavern lone and deep,And there she crept each night to rest,To rest, but never more to sleep.No human voice came near to soothe,Her anguish dimm'd no human eye,The bond of sisterhood was rentBetween her and Humanity.
She gathered autumn leaves and mossWithin a cavern lone and deep,And there she crept each night to rest,To rest, but never more to sleep.No human voice came near to soothe,Her anguish dimm'd no human eye,The bond of sisterhood was rentBetween her and Humanity.
She gathered autumn leaves and mossWithin a cavern lone and deep,And there she crept each night to rest,To rest, but never more to sleep.No human voice came near to soothe,Her anguish dimm'd no human eye,The bond of sisterhood was rentBetween her and Humanity.
But ever when the moon was full,All in the moonlight weird and stillCame evermore upon her earThe moanings by the lonely mill;And seven dread shadows entered inAnd gathered round her lowly bed,The ghastly witnesses of sin,A silent freezing sight of dread.
But ever when the moon was full,All in the moonlight weird and stillCame evermore upon her earThe moanings by the lonely mill;And seven dread shadows entered inAnd gathered round her lowly bed,The ghastly witnesses of sin,A silent freezing sight of dread.
But ever when the moon was full,All in the moonlight weird and stillCame evermore upon her earThe moanings by the lonely mill;And seven dread shadows entered inAnd gathered round her lowly bed,The ghastly witnesses of sin,A silent freezing sight of dread.
But ever when the moon was full,All in the moonlight weird and stillCame evermore upon her earThe moanings by the lonely mill;And seven dread shadows entered inAnd gathered round her lowly bed,The ghastly witnesses of sin,A silent freezing sight of dread.
All night they stayed, those phantoms pale,Those formless phantoms dim and drear,And looked at her with fixed cold eyes,That chilled her very blood with fear.In vain she tried to hide her face;She felt their presence still around,And well she knew no pitying graceFrom these dread beings could be found.
All night they stayed, those phantoms pale,Those formless phantoms dim and drear,And looked at her with fixed cold eyes,That chilled her very blood with fear.In vain she tried to hide her face;She felt their presence still around,And well she knew no pitying graceFrom these dread beings could be found.
All night they stayed, those phantoms pale,Those formless phantoms dim and drear,And looked at her with fixed cold eyes,That chilled her very blood with fear.In vain she tried to hide her face;She felt their presence still around,And well she knew no pitying graceFrom these dread beings could be found.
All night they stayed, those phantoms pale,Those formless phantoms dim and drear,And looked at her with fixed cold eyes,That chilled her very blood with fear.In vain she tried to hide her face;She felt their presence still around,And well she knew no pitying graceFrom these dread beings could be found.
She could not weep, she dare not pray,But lay like one in coffined clay,Till those weird phantoms, one by one,Melted away in the morning sun,Which fell like the light of the judgement-day,When the doom of the Lord is done.
She could not weep, she dare not pray,But lay like one in coffined clay,Till those weird phantoms, one by one,Melted away in the morning sun,Which fell like the light of the judgement-day,When the doom of the Lord is done.
She could not weep, she dare not pray,But lay like one in coffined clay,Till those weird phantoms, one by one,Melted away in the morning sun,Which fell like the light of the judgement-day,When the doom of the Lord is done.
She could not weep, she dare not pray,But lay like one in coffined clay,Till those weird phantoms, one by one,Melted away in the morning sun,Which fell like the light of the judgement-day,When the doom of the Lord is done.
Oft wandering round the ancient church,The ruined church where they were wed,She vainly tried to cross the porch,And lay therein her weary head;And her weary load of shame and sinUpon the altar steps within.
Oft wandering round the ancient church,The ruined church where they were wed,She vainly tried to cross the porch,And lay therein her weary head;And her weary load of shame and sinUpon the altar steps within.
Oft wandering round the ancient church,The ruined church where they were wed,She vainly tried to cross the porch,And lay therein her weary head;And her weary load of shame and sinUpon the altar steps within.
Oft wandering round the ancient church,The ruined church where they were wed,She vainly tried to cross the porch,And lay therein her weary head;And her weary load of shame and sinUpon the altar steps within.
But never, since the fatal nightShe fled away from Erick's sight,Curs'd with his ban of deepest hate,Had human hand unbarred the gate;Nor priest nor chorister was there,Nor sacred rite nor holy prayer:Foredoom'd and desolate it stoodAll in the lonely beechen wood.
But never, since the fatal nightShe fled away from Erick's sight,Curs'd with his ban of deepest hate,Had human hand unbarred the gate;Nor priest nor chorister was there,Nor sacred rite nor holy prayer:Foredoom'd and desolate it stoodAll in the lonely beechen wood.
But never, since the fatal nightShe fled away from Erick's sight,Curs'd with his ban of deepest hate,Had human hand unbarred the gate;Nor priest nor chorister was there,Nor sacred rite nor holy prayer:Foredoom'd and desolate it stoodAll in the lonely beechen wood.
But never, since the fatal nightShe fled away from Erick's sight,Curs'd with his ban of deepest hate,Had human hand unbarred the gate;Nor priest nor chorister was there,Nor sacred rite nor holy prayer:Foredoom'd and desolate it stoodAll in the lonely beechen wood.
God's curse it is a bitter thingTo fall on a human soul,Alone with its awful suffering,With its deadly sin and dole;'Mid the ghastly wrecks of a human life,And memories of shame,When thoughts of a past that would not sleep,Like barbèd arrows came.
God's curse it is a bitter thingTo fall on a human soul,Alone with its awful suffering,With its deadly sin and dole;'Mid the ghastly wrecks of a human life,And memories of shame,When thoughts of a past that would not sleep,Like barbèd arrows came.
God's curse it is a bitter thingTo fall on a human soul,Alone with its awful suffering,With its deadly sin and dole;'Mid the ghastly wrecks of a human life,And memories of shame,When thoughts of a past that would not sleep,Like barbèd arrows came.
God's curse it is a bitter thingTo fall on a human soul,Alone with its awful suffering,With its deadly sin and dole;'Mid the ghastly wrecks of a human life,And memories of shame,When thoughts of a past that would not sleep,Like barbèd arrows came.