Oh! gather whencesoe'er ye sately may Our churches, invariably perhaps, stand east and west, but why is by few persons exactly known; nor, that the degate of deviation from due east often noticeable in the ancient ones was determined, in each particular case, by the point in the hori zon at which the sun rose upon the day of the saint to whom the church was ledicated. These observances of our ancestors, and the causes of them, are the subject of the following stanzas. WHEN, in the antique age of bow and spear -- Then to her Patron Saint a previous rite He rose, and straight, as by divine command, They, who had waited for that sign to trace Their work's foundation, gave with careful hand To the high altar its determined place ; – Mindful of Him who, in the Orient born, There lived, and on the cross his life resigned, And who, from out the regions of the morn, Issuing in pomp, shall come to judge mankind. So taught their creed;;- nor failed the eastern sky 'Mid these more awful feelings, to infuse The sweet and natural hopes that shall not die, Long as the sun his gladsome course renews. For us hath such prelusive vigil ceased; That obvious emblem giving to the eye ERE the Brothers through the gateway Horn it was which none could sound, Save he who came as rightful Heir Heirs from times of earliest record Tried the Horn, - it owned his power; He was acknowledged: and the blast Which good Sir Eustace sounded was the last. With his lance Sir Eustace pointed, And to Hubert thus said he : "What I speak this horn shall witness For thy better memory. Hear, then, and neglect me not! At this time, and on this spot, The words are uttered from my heart, "On good service we are going Life to risk by sea and land, In which course if Christ our Saviour Do my sinful soul demand, Hither come thou back straightway, Hubert, if alive that day; Return, and sound the Horn, that we May have a living House still left in thee!" "Fear not," quickly answered Hubert; What thou askest, noble Brother, To Palestine the Brothers took their way. Side by side they fought, (the Lucies And where'er their strokes alighted, Whence, then, could it come, By what evil spirit brought? O, can a brave Man wish to take the thought, His Brother's life, for Lands' and Castle's sake? "Sir!" the Ruffians said to Hubert, 'Deep he lies in Jordan flood." Stricken by this ill assurance, Months passed on, and no Sir Eustace! To his Castle Hubert sped; Nothing has he now to dread. But silent and by stealth he came, And at an hour which nobody could name. None could tell if it were night-time, And bright the Lady is who shares his bed. Likewise he had sons and daughters; And, as good men do, he sate At his board by these surrounded, And while thus in open day Once he sate, as old books say, A blast was uttered from the Horn, Where by the Castle gate it hung forlorn. 'Tis the breath of good Sir Eustace! He is helpless and alone: Thou hast a dungeon; speak the word! And there he may be lodged, and thou be Lord. |