Den Bound, Headed By One Black Mighty Steed, Who Seemed The Patriarch Of His Breed, Without A Single Speck Or Hair Of White Upon His Shaggy Hide; They Snort - They Foam - Neigh - Swerve Aside, And Backward To The Forest Fly, By Instinct, From A Human Eye. They Left Me There To My Despair, Linked To The Dead And Stiffening Wretch, 710 Whose Lifeless Limbs Beneath Me Stretch, Relieved From That Unwonted Weight, From Whence I Could Not Extricate Nor Him Nor Me - And There We Lay, The Dying On The Dead! I Little Deemed Another Day Would See My Houseless, Helpless Head. "And There From Morn To Twilight Bound, I Felt The Heavy Hours Toil Round, With Just Enough Of Life To See 720 My Last Of Suns Go Down On Me, In Hopeless Certainty Of, Mind, That Makes Us Feel At Length Resigned To That Which Our Foreboding Years Present The Worst And Last Of Fears: Inevitable - Even A Boon, Nor More Unkind For Coming Soon, Yet Shunned And Dreaded With Such Care, As If It Only Were A Snare That Prudence Might Escape: 730 At Times Both Wished For And Implored, At Times Sought With Self-Pointed Sword, Yet Still A Dark And Hideous Close To Even Intolerable Woes, And Welcome In No Shape. And, Strange To Say, The Sons Of Pleasure, They Who Have Revelled Beyond Measure In Beauty, Wassail, Wine, And Treasure, Die Calm, Or Calmer, Oft Than He Whose Heritage Was Misery. 740 For He Who Hath In Turn Run Through All That Was Beautiful And New, Hath Nought To Hope, And Nought To Leave; And, Save The Future, (Which Is Viewed Not Quite As Men Are Base Or Good, But As Their Nerves May Be Endued,) With Nought Perhaps To Grieve: The Wretch Still Hopes His Woes Must End, And Death, Whom He Should Deem His Friend, Appears, To His Distempered Eyes, 750 Arrived To Rob Him Of His Prize, The Tree Of His New Paradise. To-Morrow Would Have Given Him All, Repaid His Pangs, Repaired His Fall; To-Morrow Would Have Been The First Of Days No More Deplored Or Curst, But Bright, And Long, And Beckoning Years, Seen Dazzling Through The Mist Of Tears, Guerdon Of Many A Painful Hour; To-Morrow Would Have Given Him Power 760 To Rule - To Shine - To Smite - To Save - And Must It Dawn Upon His Grave? Xviii. "The Sun Was Sinking - Still I Lay Chained To The Chill And Stiffening Steed! I Thought To Mingle There Our Clay;[271] And My Dim Eyes Of Death Had Need, No Hope Arose Of Being Freed. I Cast My Last Looks Up The Sky, And There Between Me And The Sun[272] I Saw The Expecting Raven Fly, 770 Who Scarce Would Wait Till Both Should Die, Ere His Repast Begun;[273] He Flew, And Perched, Then Flew Once More, And Each Time Nearer Than Before; I Saw His Wing Through Twilight Flit, And Once So Near Me He Alit I Could Have Smote, But Lacked The Strength; But The Slight Motion Of My Hand, And Feeble Scratching Of The Sand, The Exerted Throat'S Faint Struggling Noise, 780 Which Scarcely Could Be Called A Voice, Together Scared Him Off At Length. I Know No More - My Latest Dream Is Something Of A Lovely Star Which Fixed My Dull Eyes From Afar, And Went And Came With Wandering Beam, And Of The Cold - Dull - Swimming - Dense Sensation Of Recurring Sense, And Then Subsiding Back To Death, And Then Again A Little Breath, 790 A Little Thrill - A Short Suspense, An Icy Sickness Curdling O'Er My Heart, And Sparks That Crossed My Brain - A Gasp - A Throb - A Start Of Pain, A Sigh - And Nothing More. Xix. "I Woke - Where Was I? - Do I See A Human Face Look Down On Me? And Doth A Roof Above Me Close? Do These Limbs On A Couch Repose? Is This A Chamber Where I Lie? And Is It Mortal Yon Bright Eye, That Watches Me With Gentle Glance? I Closed My Own Again Once More, As Doubtful That My Former Trance Could Not As Yet Be O'Er. A Slender Girl, Long-Haired, And Tall, Sate Watching By The Cottage Wall. The Sparkle Of Her Eye I Caught, Even With My First Return Of Thought; For Ever And Anon She Threw 810 A Prying, Pitying Glance On Me With Her Black Eyes So Wild And Free: I Gazed, And Gazed, Until I Knew No Vision It Could Be, - But That I Lived, And Was Released From Adding To The Vulture'S Feast: And When The Cossack Maid Beheld My Heavy Eyes At Length Unsealed, She Smiled - And I Essayed To Speak, But Failed - And She Approached, And Made 820 With Lip And Finger Signs That Said, I Must Not Strive As Yet To Break The Silence, Till My Strength Should Be Enough To Leave My Accents Free; And Then Her Hand On Mine She Laid, And Smoothed The Pillow For My Head, And Stole Along On Tiptoe Tread, And Gently Oped The Door, And Spake In Whispers - Ne'er Was Voice So Sweet![274] Even Music Followed Her Light Feet. 830 But Those She Called Were Not Awake, And She Went Forth; But, Ere She Passed, Another Look On Me She Cast, Another Sign She Made, To Say, That I Had Nought To Fear, That All Were Near, At My Command Or Call, And She Would Not Delay Her Due Return: - While She Was Gone, Methought I Felt Too Much Alone. Xx. "She Came With Mother And With Sire - 840 What Need Of More? - I Will Not Tire With Long Recital Of The Rest, Since I Became The Cossack'S Guest. They Found Me Senseless On The Plain, They Bore Me To The Nearest Hut, They Brought Me Into Life Again - Me - One Day O'Er Their Realm To Reign! Thus The Vain Fool Who Strove To Glut His Rage, Refining On My Pain, Sent Me Forth To The Wilderness, 850 Bound - Naked - Bleeding - And Alone, To Pass The Desert To A Throne, - What Mortal His Own Doom May Guess? Let None Despond, Let None Despair! To-Morrow The Borysthenes May See Our Coursers Graze At Ease Upon His Turkish Bank, - And Never Had I Such Welcome For A River As I Shall Yield When Safely There.[275] Comrades, Good Night!" - The Hetman Threw 860 His Length Beneath The Oak-Tree Shade, With Leafy Couch Already Made - A Bed Nor Comfortless Nor New To Him, Who Took His Rest WheNe'er The Hour Arrived, No Matter Where: His Eyes The Hastening Slumbers Steep. And If Ye Marvel Charles Forgot To Thank His Tale, He Wondered Not, - The King Had Been An Hour Asleep!