Madoc (Volume 1)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1807. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... XVI. Silent and solitary is thy vale, Caermadoc! and how melancholy now That solitude and silence ! .. broad noon-day, And not a sound of human life is there! The fisher's net, abandoned in his haste, Sways idly in the waters; in the tree, Which its last stroke had pierced, the hatchet hangs; The birds, beside the mattock and the spade, Hunt in the new-turned mould, and fearlessly Fly through the cage-work of the imperfect wall; Or through the vacant dwelling's open door, Pass and repass secure. In Madoc's house, And on his bed of reeds, Goervyl lies, Her face toward the ground. She neither weeps, Nor sighs, nor groans; too strong her agony For outward sign of anguish, and for prayer Too hopeless was the ill: and though, at times, The pious exclamation past her lips, Thy will be done ! yet was that utterance Rather the breathing of a broken heart, Than of a soul resigned. Mervyn, beside, Hangs over his dear mistress silently, Having no hope nor comfort to bestow, Nor aught but sobs, and unavailing tears. The women of Caermadoc, like a flock . Collected in their panic, stand around The house of their lost leader; and they, too, Are mute in their dispair. Llaian alone Is absent, wildly hath she wandered forth, To seek her child; and such the general woe, That none hath marked her absence: yet have they, Though unprotected thus, no selfish fear; The sudden evil had destroyed all thought, All sense, of present danger to themselves, All foresight. Yet new terrors ! Malinal, Panting with speed, bursts in, and takes the arms Of Madoc down. Goervyl, at that sound, Started in sudden hope; but when she saw The Azteca, she uttered a faint scream Of wrongful fear, remembering not the proofs Of his tried truth, nor recognizing aught In those known features, sa...