The herdsman fears, and thinks its shadow creeps To follow him; and superstition keeps Such hold that Corbus as a terror reigns; Folks say the Fort a target still remains For the Black Archer--and that it contains The cave where the Great Sleeper still sleeps sound. The country people all the castle round Are frightened easily, for legends grow And mix with phantoms of the mind; we know The hearth is cradle of such fantasies, And in the smoke the cotter sees arise From low-thatched but he traces cause of dread. Thus rendering thanks that he is lowly bred, Because from such none look for valorous deeds. The peasant flies the Tower, although it leads A noble knight to seek adventure there, And, from his point of honor, dangers dare. Thus very rarely passer-by is seen; But--it might be with twenty years between, Or haply less--at unfixed interval There would a semblance be of festival. A Seneschal and usher would appear, And troops of servants many baskets bear. Then were, in mystery, preparations made, And they departed--for till night none stayed. But 'twixt the branches gazers could descry The blackened hall lit up most brilliantly. None dared approach--and this the reason why. IV. THE CUSTOM OF LUSACE. When died a noble Marquis of Lusace 'Twas custom for the heir who filled his place Before assuming princely pomp and power To sup one night in Corbus' olden tower. From this weird meal he passed to the degree Of Prince and Margrave; nor could ever he Be thought brave knight, or she--if woman claim The rank--be reckoned of unblemished fame Till they had breathed the air of ages gone, The funeral odors, in the nest alone Of its dead masters. Ancient was the race; To trace the upward stem of proud Lusace Gives one a vertigo; descended they From ancestor of Attila, men say; Their race to him--through Pagans--they hark back; Becoming Christians, race they thought to track Through Lechus, Plato, Otho to combine With Ursus, Stephen, in a lordly line. Of all those masters of the country round That were on Northern Europe's boundary found-- At first were waves and then the dykes were reared-- Corbus in double majesty appeared, Castle on hill and town upon the plain; And one who mounted on the tower could gain A view beyond the pines and rocks, of spires That pierce the shade the distant scene acquires; A walled town is it, but 'tis not ally Of the old citadel's proud majesty; Unto itself belonging this remained. Often a castle was thus self-sustained And equalled towns; witness in Lombardy Crama, and Plato too in Tuscany, And in Apulia Barletta;--each one Was powerful as a town, and dreaded none.