THE CHURCH OF BROU°

THE CHURCH OF BROU°

I

THE CASTLE

°1Down the Savoy° valleys sounding, Echoing round this castle old, °3'Mid the distant mountain-chalets° Hark! what bell for church is toll'd? 5In the bright October morning Savoy's Duke had left his bride. From the castle, past the drawbridge, Flow'd the hunters' merry tide. Steeds are neighing, gallants glittering; 10 Gay, her smiling lord to greet, From her mullion'd chamber-casement Smiles the Duchess Marguerite. From Vienna, by the Danube, Here she came, a bride, in spring. 15Now the autumn crisps the forest; Hunters gather, bugles ring. [p.64] °17Hounds are pulling, prickers° swearing, Horses fret, and boar-spears glance. Off!—They sweep the marshy forests. 20 Westward, on the side of France. Hark! the game's on foot; they scatter!— Down the forest-ridings lone, Furious, single horsemen gallop—— Hark! a shout—a crash—a groan! 25Pale and breathless, came the hunters; On the turf dead lies the boar— God! the Duke lies stretch'd beside him, Senseless, weltering in his gore.

In the dull October evening, 30 Down the leaf-strewn forest-road, To the castle, past the drawbridge, Came the hunters with their load. In the hall, with sconces blazing, Ladies waiting round her seat, °35Clothed in smiles, beneath the dais° Sate the Duchess Marguerite. Hark! below the gates unbarring! Tramp of men and quick commands! "—'Tis my lord come back from hunting—" 40 And the Duchess claps her hands. Slow and tired, came the hunters— Stopp'd in darkness in the court. "—Ho, this way, ye laggard hunters! To the hall! What sport? What sport?"— [p.65] 45Slow they enter'd with their master; In the hall they laid him down. On his coat were leaves and blood-stains, On his brow an angry frown. Dead her princely youthful husband 50 Lay before his youthful wife, Bloody, 'neath the flaring sconces— And the sight froze all her life.

In Vienna, by the Danube, Kings hold revel, gallants meet. 55Gay of old amid the gayest Was the Duchess Marguerite. In Vienna, by the Danube, Feast and dance her youth beguiled. Till that hour she never sorrow'd; 60 But from then she never smiled. 'Mid the Savoy mountain valleys Far from town or haunt of man, Stands a lonely church, unfinish'd, Which the Duchess Maud began; 65Old, that Duchess stern began it, In grey age, with palsied hands; But she died while it was building, And the Church unfinish'd stands— °69Stands as erst° the builders left it, 70 When she sank into her grave; °71Mountain greensward paves the chancel,° °72 Harebells flower in the nave. [p.66] "—In my castle all is sorrow," Said the Duchess Marguerite then; 75"Guide me, some one, to the mountain! We will build the Church again."— °77Sandall'd palmers,° faring homeward, Austrian knights from Syria came. "—Austrian wanderers bring, O warders! 80 Homage to your Austrian dame."— From the gate the warders answer'd: "—Gone, O knights, is she you knew! Dead our Duke, and gone his Duchess; Seek her at the Church of Brou!"— 85Austrian knights and march-worn palmers Climb the winding mountain-way.— Reach the valley, where the Fabric Rises higher day by day. Stones are sawing, hammers ringing; 90 On the work the bright sun shines, In the Savoy mountain-meadows, By the stream, below the pines. On her palfry white the Duchess Sate and watch'd her working train— 95Flemish carvers, Lombard gilders, German masons, smiths from Spain. Clad in black, on her white palfrey, Her old architect beside— [p.67] There they found her in the mountains, 100 Morn and noon and eventide. There she sate, and watch'd the builders, Till the Church was roof'd and done. Last of all, the builders rear'd her In the nave a tomb of stone. 105On the tomb two forms they sculptured, Lifelike in the marble pale— One, the Duke in helm and armour; One, the Duchess in her veil. °109Round the tomb the carved stone fretwork° 110 Was at Easter-tide put on. Then the Duchess closed her labours; And she died at the St. John.

II

THE CHURCH

Upon the glistening leaden roof Of the new Pile, the sunlight shines; The stream goes leaping by. The hills are clothed with pines sun-proof; 5'Mid bright green fields, below the pines, Stands the Church on high. What Church is this, from men aloof?— 'Tis the Church of Brou. At sunrise, from their dewy lair 10Crossing the stream, the kine are seen Round the wall to stray— [p.68] The churchyard wall that clips the square Of open hill-sward fresh and green Where last year they lay. 15But all things now are order'd fair Round the Church of Brou. °17On Sundays, at the matin-chime,° The Alpine peasants, two and three, Climb up here to pray; 20Burghers and dames, at summer's prime, °21Ride out to church from Chambery,° °22 Dight° with mantles gay. But else it is a lonely time Round the Church of Brou. 25On Sundays, too, a priest doth come From the wall'd town beyond the pass, Down the mountain-way; And then you hear the organ's hum, You hear the white-robed priest say mass, 30 And the people pray. But else the woods and fields are dumb Round the Church of Brou. And after church, when mass is done, The people to the nave repair 35 Round the tomb to stray; And marvel at the Forms of stone, °37And praise the chisell'd broideries° rare— Then they drop away. The princely Pair are left alone 40In the Church of Brou.

[p.69]

III

THE TOMB

So rest, for ever rest, O princely Pair! In your high church, 'mid the still mountain-air, Where horn, and hound, and vassals never come. Only the blessed Saints are smiling dumb, 5From the rich painted windows of the nave, °6On aisle, and transept,° and your marble grave; Where thou, young Prince! shalt never more arise From the fringed mattress where thy Duchess lies, On autumn-mornings, when the bugle sounds, 10And ride across the drawbridge with thy hounds To hunt the boar in the crisp woods till eve; And thou, O Princess! shalt no more receive, Thou and thy ladies, in the hall of state, The jaded hunters with their bloody freight, 15Coming benighted to the castle-gate. So sleep, for ever sleep, O marble Pair! Or, if ye wake, let it be then, when fair On the carved western front a flood of light Streams from the setting sun, and colours bright 20Prophets, transfigured Saints, and Martyrs brave, In the vast western window of the nave, And on the pavement round the Tomb there glints A chequer-work of glowing sapphire-tints, And amethyst, and ruby—then unclose 25Your eyelids on the stone where ye repose, And from your broider'd pillows lift your heads, And rise upon your cold white marble beds; [p.70] And, looking down on the warm rosy tints, Which chequer, at your feet, the illumined flints, 30Say: What is this? we are in bliss—forgiven— Behold the pavement of the courts of Heaven! Or let it be on autumn nights, when rain Doth rustlingly above your heads complain On the smooth leaden roof, and on the walls 35Shedding her pensive light at intervals The moon through the clere-story windows shines, And the wind washes through the mountain-pines. Then, gazing up 'mid the dim pillars high, °39The foliaged marble forest° where ye lie, 40Hush, ye will say, it is eternity! This is the glimmering verge of Heaven, and these The columns of the heavenly palaces! And, in the sweeping of the wind, your ear The passage of the Angels' wings will hear, °45And on the lichen-crusted leads° above The rustle of the eternal rain of love.