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XI.

And he for her had also wept,

But for the eyes that on him gazed:
His sorrow, if he felt it, slept;

Stern and erect his brow was raised.
Whate'er the grief his soul avowed,
He would not shrink before the crowd;
But yet he dared not look on her :
Remembrance of the hours that were—

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His guilt his love-his present state

His father's wrath—all good men's hate-
His earthly, his eternal fate—

And hers,-oh, hers!—he dared not throw

One look upon that deathlike brow!

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Else had his rising heart betrayed

Remorse for all the wreck it made.

XII.

And Azo spake :-"But yesterday
"I gloried in a wife and son ;
"That dream this morning passed away;

"Ere day declines, I shall have none.

"My life must linger on alone;

"Well, let that pass,-there breathes not one "Who would not do as I have done:

"Those ties are broken-not by me;

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"Let that too pass;-the doom's prepared!

"Hugo, the priest awaits on thee,

"And then-thy crime's reward!

"Away! address thy prayers to Heaven,

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"Before its evening stars are met— "Learn if thou there canst be forgiven; "It's mercy may absolve thee yet. "But here, upon the earth beneath,

"There is no spot where thou and I

"Together; for an hour, could breathe:

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"Farewell! I will not see thee die"But thou, frail thing! shalt view his head"Away! I cannot speak the rest: "Go! woman of the wanton breast; "Not I, but thou his blood dost shed: "Go! if that sight thou canst outlive, "And joy thee in the life I give."

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XIII.

And here stern Azo hid his face-
For on his brow the swelling vein

Throbbed as if back upon his brain

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The hot blood ebbed and flowed again;

And therefore bowed he for a space,

And passed his shaking hand along

His eye, to veil it from the throng;

While Hugo raised his chained hands,

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And for a brief delay demands

His father's ear: the silent sire
Forbids not what his words require.

"It is not that I dread the death

"For thou hast seen me by thy side "All redly through the battle ride,

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"And that not once a useless brand

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Thy slaves have wrested from my hand, "Hath shed more blood in cause of thine,

"Than e'er can stain the axe of mine:

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"Thou gav'st, and may'st resume my breath,

"A gift for which I thank thee not;

"Nor are my mother's wrongs forgot,

"Her slighted love and ruined name, "Her offspring's heritage of shame;

"But she is in the grave, where he,

"Her son, thy rival, soon shall be.
"Her broken heart-my severed head-
"Shall witness for thee from the dead

"How trusty and how tender were

"Thy youthful love-paternal care.

« 'Tis true, that I have done thee wrong—

"But wrong for wrong-this deemed thy bride, "The other victim of thy pride,

"Thou know'st for me was destined long.

"Thou saw'st, and coveted'st her charms

"And with thy very crime-my birth, "Thou taunted'st me-as little worth; "A match ignoble for her arms,

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"Because, forsooth, I could not claim "The lawful heirship of thy name,

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"My name should more than Este's shine

"With honours all my own.

"I had a sword-and have a breast

"That should have won as haught2 a crest

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"As ever waved along the line

"Of all these sovereign sires of thine.

Not always knightly spurs are worn

"The brightest by the better born;

"And mine have lanced my courser's flank "Before proud chiefs of princely rank,

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"When charging to the cheering cry "Of Este and of Victory!""

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"I will not plead the cause of crime, "Nor sue thee to redeem from time

A few brief hours or days that must "At length roll o'er my reckless dust;— "Such maddening moments as my past,

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They could not, and they did not, last— "Albeit, my birth and name be base,

"And thy nobility of race

"Disdained to deck a thing like me—

"Yet in

my lineaments they trace

"Some features of my father's face,

"And in my spirit-all of thee.

"From thee-this tamelessness of heart

"From thee-nay, wherefore dost thou start?

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