The Church of Brou: The Castle

Down the Savoy valleys sounding,
&nbspEchoing round this castle old,
'Mid the distant mountain-chalets
&nbspHark! what bell for church is toll'd?

In the bright October morning
&nbspSavoy's Duke had left his bride.
From the castle, past the drawbridge,
&nbspFlow'd the hunters' merry tide.

Steeds are neighing, gallants glittering;
&nbspGay, her smiling lord to greet,
From her mullion'd chamber-casement
&nbspSmiles the Duchess Marguerite.

From Vienna, by the Danube,
&nbspHere she came, a bride, in spring.
Now the autumn crisps the forest;
&nbspHunters gather, bugles ring.

Hounds are pulling, prickers swearing,
&nbspHorses fret, and boar-spears glance.
Off!—They sweep the marshy forests,
&nbspWestward, on the side of France.

Hark! the game's on foot; they scatter!—
&nbspDown the forest-ridings lone,
Furious, single horsemen gallop——
&nbspHark! a shout—a crash—a groan!

Pale and breathless, came the hunters;
&nbspOn the turf dead lies the boar—
God! the Duke lies stretch'd beside him,
&nbspSenseless, weltering in his gore.

In the dull October evening,
&nbspDown the leaf-strewn forest-road,
To the castle, past the drawbridge,
&nbspCame the hunters with their load.

In the hall, with sconces blazing,
&nbspLadies waiting round her seat,
Clothed in smiles, beneath the daïs
&nbspSate the Duchess Marguerite.

Hark! below the gates unbarring!
&nbspTramp of men and quick commands!
"—'Tis my lord come back from hunting—"
&nbspAnd the Duchess claps her hands.

Slow and tired, came the hunters—
&nbspStopp'd in darkness in the court.
"—Ho, this way, ye laggard hunters!
&nbspTo the hall! What sport? What sport?"—

Slow they enter'd with their master;
&nbspIn the hall they laid him down.
On his coat were leaves and blood-stains,
&nbspOn his brow an angry frown.

Dead her princely youthful husband
&nbspLay before his youthful wife,
Bloody, 'neath the flaring sconces—
&nbspAnd the sight froze all her life.

In Vienna, by the Danube,
&nbspKings hold revel, gallants meet.
Gay of old amid the gayest
&nbspWas the Duchess Marguerite.

In Vienna, by the Danube,
&nbspFeast and dance her youth beguiled.
Till that hour she never sorrow'd;
&nbspBut from then she never smiled.

'Mid the Savoy mountain valleys
&nbspFar from town or haunt of man,
Stands a lonely church, unfinish'd,
&nbspWhich the Duchess Maud began;

Old, that Duchess stern began it,
&nbspIn gray age, with palsied hands;
But she died while it was building,
&nbspAnd the Church unfinish'd stands—

Stands as erst the builders left it,
&nbspWhen she sank into her grave;
Mountain greensward paves the chancel,
&nbspHarebells flower in the nave

"—In my castle all is sorrow,"
&nbspSaid the Duchess Marguerite then;
"Guide me, some one, to the mountain!
&nbspWe will build the Church again."—

Sandall'd palmers, faring homeward,
&nbspAustrian knights from Syria came.
"—Austrian wanderers bring, O warders!
&nbspHomage to your Austrian dame."

From the gate the warders answer'd:
&nbsp"—Gone, O knights, is she you knew!
Dead our Duke, and gone his Duchess;
&nbspSeek her at the Church of Brou!"—

Austrian knights and much-worn palmers
&nbspClimb the winding mountain-way—
Reach the valley, where the Fabric
&nbspRises higher day by day.

Stones are sawing, hammers ringing;
&nbspOn the work the bright sun shines,
In the Savoy mountain-meadows,
&nbspBy the stream, below the pines.

On her palfrey white the Duchess
&nbspSate and watch'd her working train—
Flemish carvers, Lombard gilders,
&nbspGerman masons, smiths from Spain.

Clad in black, on her white palfrey,
&nbspHer old architect beside—
There they found her in the mountains,
&nbspMorn and noon and eventide.

There she sate, and watch'd the builders,
&nbspTill the Church was roof'd and done.
Last of all, the builders rear'd her
&nbspIn the nave a tomb of stone.

On the tomb two forms they sculptured,
&nbspLifelike in the marble pale—
One, the Duke in helm and armour;
&nbspOne, the Duchess in her veil.

Round the tomb the carved stone fretwork
&nbspWas at Easter-tide put on.
Then the Duchess closed her labours;
&nbspAnd she died at the St. John.