The Cardinal rose with a dignified look, He called for his candle, his bell, and his book! In holy anger, and pious grief, He solemnly cursed that rascally thief! He cursed him at board, he cursed him in bed; From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head; 70 He cursed him in sleeping, that every night He should dream of the devil, and wake in a fright; He cursed him in eating, he cursed him in drinking, He cursed him in coughing, in sneezing, in winking; He cursed him in sitting, in standing, in lying; He cursed him in walking, in riding, in flying, He cursed him living, he cursed him dying! Never was heard such a terrible curse; But, what gave rise to no little surprise, Nobody seemed one penny the worse! 80 Where the first thing they saw, midst the sticks and the straw, Was the RING in the nest of that little Jackdaw! 100 Then the great Lord Cardinal called for his book, And off that terrible curse he took; The mute expression served in lieu of confession, And, being thus coupled with full restitution, The Jackdaw got plenary absolution! When those words were heard, that poor little bird Was so changed in a moment, 'twas really absurd: He grew sleek and fat,-in addition to that, A fresh crop of feathers came thick as a mat! His tail waggled more even than before; But no longer it wagged with an impudent THE SKELETON IN ARMOR HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW [This poem was suggested to Longfellow by the discovery of an ancient skeleton in armor, unearthed at Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1839, in connection with the "Round Tower" at Newport (see line 134), which was supposed to be a relic of early Norse settlements in America.] "Speak! speak! thou fearful guest! Comest to daunt me! "She was a prince's child, I but a Viking wild, And though she blushed and smiled, I was discarded! Should not the dove so white Follow the sea-mew's flight? "Scarce had I put to sea, Among the Norsemen !- With twenty horsemen. "Then launched they to the blast, When the wind failed us; "And as to catch the gale Struck we her ribs of steel; Through the black water! "As with his wings aslant, So toward the open main, Through the wild hurricane, Bore I the maiden. 80 At [Macaulay supposes this poem to be a popular ballad among the Romans, written about 390 B.C., but dealing with events of about 510 B.C. that period Rome was a city ruling but a few square miles of territory, and the Etruscan dominions of Lars Porsena were of much greater extent. The Tarquin kings had been expelled from Rome after Sextus, the son of Tarquinius Superbus, had insulted and assaulted the matron Lucretia; Lars Porsena then gathered an army with the intention of forcing the Tarquins upon the city again.] Lars Porsena of Clusium By the Nine Gods he swore That the great house of Tarquin Should suffer wrong no more. By the Nine Gods he swore it, And named a trysting day, And bade his messengers ride forth, East and west and south and north, To summon his array. Shame on the false Etruscan Who lingers in his home, When Porsena of Clusium Is on the march for Rome. The horsemen and the footmen Which, hid by beech and pine, Like an eagle's nest, hangs on the crest Of purple Apennine; From lordly Volaterræ, Where scowls the far-famed hold Piled by the hands of giants For godlike kings of old; From seagirt Populonia, Whose sentinels descry From the proud mart of Pisa, Through corn and vines and flowers; From where Cortona lifts to heaven Her diadem of towers. Tall are the oaks whose acorns Fat are the stags that champ the boughs Is to the herdsman dear; But now no stroke of woodman Is heard by Auser's rill; No hunter tracks the stag's green path Up the Ciminian hill; Unwatched along Clitumnus Grazes the milk-white steer; Unharmed the water-fowl may dip The harvests of Arretium 20 30 40 50 |