Thalla anl'Ash.
Epimania, the lady-lich - by the twelve isles she swore
that the forces of unliving should suffer wrong no more.
by the twelve isles she swore it, and named a trysting day,
and bade her sorcerors ride forth, east and west
and south and north, to summon her array.
the harvests of fair lantia, this year, old men shall reap;
this year, young boys in camelot shall plunge the struggling sheep;
and in the vats of where wine is made, this year, the must shall pour
round the white feet of laughing girls whose sires have marched to war.
and now hath every charnel-house sent up her tale of men;
the foot are fourscore thousand, the horse are thousands ten.
before the bridge of pardulon is met the great array.
a proud one stands their general upon the trysting day.
for all the undead armies are ranged beneath her eye,
ah, many a fallen lantian,and many a stout ally;
and with a mighty following to join the muster came
the dreaded necromancer of long-forgotten name
but by the walls of Pardulon was tumult and affright:
from all the spacious champaign to samarix took flight.
a mile around the city, the throng stopped up the ways;
a fearful sight it was to see through two long nights and days.
now, from the isle of sammarix could the brave lions spy
the line of blazing torchess - red in the midnight sky.
the fathers of the city, they sat all night and day,
for every hour some horseman came with tidings of dismay.
i wis, in all the senate, there was no heart so bold,
but sore it ached, and fast it beat, when that ill news was told.
forthwith up rose her Majesty, up rose the warriors all;
in haste they girded up their gowns, and hied them to the wall.
they held a council standing, before the river-gate;
short time was there, ye well may guess, for musing or debate.
out spake Queen Sapphire roundly: ``the wall must not go down;
for, since orlagnon’s isle is lost, nought else can save the town.''
just then a scout came flying, all wild with haste and fear:
``to arms! to arms! Your majesty!: the unliving are there.''
on the low hills to westward the prince he fixed his eye,
and saw the swarthy storm of dust rise fast along the sky.
and nearer fast and nearer doth the red whirlwind come;
and louder still and still more loud,
from underneath that rolling cloud,
is heard the trumpet's war-note proud,
the trampling, and the hum.
and plainly and more plainly
now through the gloom appears,
far to left and far to right,
in broken gleams of dark-blue light,
the long array of helmets bright,
the long array of spears.
and plainly and more plainly,
above that glimmering line,
now might ye see the banners
of long dead-armies shine;
but the banner of epimania was highest of them all,
the terror of the Lantians – the dead that would not fall
fast by the royal standard, o'erlooking all the war,
the lady epimania sat in her ivory car.
on the house-tops was no woman but spat towards her and hissed,
no child but screamed out curses, and shook its little fist.
but the queen’s brow was sad,
and the queen’s speech was low,
and darkly looked she at the wall, and darkly at the foe.
``their van will be upon us before the wall goes down;
and if they once may win the wall, what hope to save the town?''
then out spake brave prince mog, and stood him at the gate
``to every man upon this earth death cometh soon or late.
and how can man die better than facing fearful odds,
for the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his gods,
``and for the tender mother who dandled him to rest,
and for the wife who nurses his baby at her breast,
and for the holy maidens who feed the eternal flame,
to save them from unliving that wrought the deed of shame?
``make haste unto the sea-wall with all the speed ye may;
I, and twenty to help me, will hold the foe in play.
in yon strait path a thousand may well be stopped by three.
now who will stand on either hand, and keep the wall with me?''
meanwhile the corpse-pale army, right glorious to behold,
come flashing back the noonday light,
rank behind rank, like surges bright
of a broad sea of gold.
four hundred trumpets sounded a peal of warlike sound,
as that great host, with measured tread, and spears advanced, and ensigns spread,
rolled slowly towards the bridge's head, the Lions held their ground.
the troops stood calm and silent, and looked upon the foes,
and a shout of deathly laughter from all the vanguard rose:
and forth three chiefs came spurring before that deep array;
to earth they sprang, their swords they drew,
and lifted high their shields, and flew
to win the narrrow way;
but now no sound of laughter was heard among the foes.
a wild and wrathful clamor from all the vanguard rose.
six spears' lengths from the entrance halted that deep array,
and for a space no man came forth to win the narrow way.
but hark! the cry is faltering: and lo! the ranks divide;
and the great shadowy deathly shape comes with his stately stride.
upon his ample shoulders clangs loud the four-fold shield,
and in his hand he shakes the brand which none but he can wield.
he smiled on those bold lions a smile serene and high;
he eyed his flinching followers, and scorn was in his eye.
quoth he, ``the she-wolf's litter stand savagely at bay:
but will ye dare to follow, if i shall clear the way?''
then, whirling up his broadsword with both hands to the height,
he rushed against the battle-line, and smote with all his might.
with shield and blade each one in turn right deftly turned the blow.
and the great lord of undeathfell at that deadly stroke,
as falls on mount alvernus a thunder smitten oak:
far o'er the crashing forest the giant arms lie spread;
and the pale augurs, muttering low, gaze on the blasted head.
on its fell throat the general right firmly pressed his heel,
and thrice and four times tugged amain, ere he wrenched out the steel.
``and see,'' he cried, ``the welcome, fair guests, that waits you here!
what noble lucomo comes next to taste our lantian cheer?''
but at his haughty challange a sullen murmur ran,
mingled of wrath, and shame, and dread, along that glittering van.
there lacked not men of prowess, nor men of lordly race;
for all of history’s noblest were round the fatal place.
was none who would be foremost to lead such dire attack;
but those behind cried, ``forward!''
and those before cried, ``back!''
and backward now and forward wavers the deep array;
and on the tossing sea of steel to and frow the standards reel;
and the victorious trumpet-peal dies fitfully away.
and still their names sound stirring as the bards sing ever on
of those that fought so valiantly on the walls of pardulon
and wives still pray to juno for children brave and bold
as his who kept the bridge so well in the brave days of old.
and in the nights of winter, when the cold north winds blow,
and the long howling of the wolves is heard amidst the snow;
when round the lonely cottage roars loud the tempest's din,
and the good logs of algidus roar louder yet within;
when the oldest cask is opened, and the largest lamp is lit;
when the chestnuts glow in the embers, and the kid turns on the spit;
when young and old in circle around the firebrands close;
when the girls are sharpening daggers, and the lads are shaping bows;
when the goodman mends his armor, and trims his helmet's plume;
when the goodwife's shuttle merrily goes flashing through the loom;
with weeping and with laughter still is the story told,
how well the lions kept the wall in the brave days of old.