His cheek was hollow, and sunk, and wan, And his lips were thin and blue; The unearthly look of that dying man, As his tale of horror he thus began, Sent a chill my warm heart through: 'The plague-spots of crime have sunk deep in my heart, And withered my whirling brain; The deep stamp of murder could never depart From this brow, where the Angel of Death's fiery dart Had graven the curse of CAIN. 'Remorse has oft waved his dusky wings O'er the path I was doom'd to tread; Despair has long frozen Hope's warm springs; I have felt the soul's madness which Memory brings, When she wakes up the murder'd dead. 'Tell me not now of GOD'S mercy or love! All hope of pardon is past: A brother's blood cries for vengeance above; This brand on my brow will my foul crime prove-- _My_ torment for ever must last! 'Thou needst not tremble; this arm is bound, And its iron strength is gone; Despair came down in the hollow sound Of my fetters, which clank'd on the loathing ground Where my wearied limbs I had thrown. 'I snatched the knife from my jailor's side And buried it in my breast, But they cruelly staunched the gushing tide, And closed the wound, though 'twas deep and wide, And _still_ I might not rest! 'Day after day I had gnawed my chain, Till I sharpened the stubborn link; But when I had pierced the swollen vein, And was writhing in death's last dreadful pain, While just on eternity's brink: 'Even then the leech's skill prevailed; I was saved for a darker fate! My very guards 'neath my stern glance quailed, And with their cloaks their faces veiled As they passed the fast-barred grate. 'I LOVED! Thou know'st not half the power Of woman's love-lit eye; Her voice can soothe death's gloomy hour, Her smiles dispel the clouds which lower When Affliction's sea rolls high. 'My heart seemed cold as the frozen snow Which binds dark AEtna's form, But _Love_ raged there with the lava's flow, And madden'd my soul with the scorching glow Of strong passion's thunder-storm.' 'I told my love: O GOD! even still I hear the Tempter's voice, Which whispered the thought in my mind, to fill My page of crime with a deed of ill That made all hell rejoice. 'I knelt at her feet, and my proud heart burn'd When she spoke of my brother's love; Affection's warmth to deep hate was turn'd; His proffered hand in my wrath I spurn'd-- Not all his prayers could move. 'At dead of night to his room I crept, As noiseless as the grave; Disturbed in his dreams, my brother wept, And softly murmur'd _her_ name while he slept; _That_ word new fury gave! 'The sound from his lip had scarcely passed, When my dagger pierced his heart: One dying look on me he cast-- That awful look in my soul will last When body and soul shall part!