_Hubert._ How sad the grand old castle looks! O'erhead, the unmolested rooks Upon the turret's windy top Sit, talking of the farmer's crop; Here in the court-yard springs the grass, So few are now the feet that pass; The stately peacocks, bolder grown, Come hopping down the steps of stone, As if the castle were their own; And I, the poor old seneschal, Haunt, like a ghost, the banquet-hall. Alas! the merry guests no more Crowd through the hospital door; No eyes with youth and passion shine, No cheeks glow redder than the wine; No song, no laugh, no jovial din Of drinking wassail to the pin; But all is silent, sad, and drear, And now the only sounds I hear Are the hoarse rooks upon the walls, And horses stamping in their stalls! (_A horn sounds_.) What ho! that merry, sudden blast Reminds me of the days long past! And, as of old resounding, grate The heavy hinges of the gate, And, clattering loud, with iron clank, Down goes the sounding bridge of plank, As if it were in haste to greet The pressure of a traveler's feet! (_Enter_ WALTER _the Minnesinger_.) _Walter._ How now, my friend! This looks quite lonely! No banner flying from the walls, No pages and no seneschals, No wardens, and one porter only! Is it you, Hubert? _Hubert._ Ah! Master Walter! _Walter._ Alas! how forms and faces alter! I did not know you. You look older! Your hair has grown much grayer and thinner, And you stoop a little in the shoulder! _Hubert._ Alack! I am a poor old sinner, And, like these towers, begin to moulder; And you have been absent many a year! _Walter._ How is the Prince? _Hubert._ He is not here; He has been ill: and now has fled. _Walter._ Speak it out frankly: say he's dead! Is it not so? _Hubert._ No; if you please; A strange, mysterious disease Fell on him with a sudden blight. Whole hours together he would stand Upon the terrace, in a dream, Resting his head upon his hand, Best pleased when he was most alone, Like Saint John Nepomuck in stone, Looking down into a stream. In the Round Tower, night after night, He sat, and bleared his eyes with books; Until one morning we found him there Stretched on the floor, as if in a swoon He had fallen from his chair. We hardly recognized his sweet looks! _Walter._ Poor Prince! _Hubert._ I think he might have mended; And he did mend; but very soon The Priests came flocking in, like rooks, With all their crosiers and their crooks, And so at last the matter ended. _Walter._ How did it end?