The Lay of Marie and Vignettes in VerseBetham, Matilda
General
The Lay of Marie and Vignettes in Verse
Betham, Matilda
Marie, de France, active 12th century -- Poetry; Women poets -- Poetry
surrounded with darkness; but pursued the beaten track, and emerged into
a meadow, where, recovering the trace of blood, she pursued it to a
large city of unexampled magnificence, which she entered, and proceeded
to the palace. No one was visible in the streets. In the first apartment
she found a knight asleep. She knew him not, and passed on to the next,
where she found a second equally unknown to her. She entered the third
room; and on a bed, which almost dazzled her by the splendour of its
ornaments, and which was surrounded by numerous torches blazing in
golden candlesticks, she recognised her dear Muldumaric, and sunk almost
lifeless with fatigue and terror by his side. Though very near his last
moments, he was still able to comfort and instruct her. He adjured her
to return instantly, while she could escape the notice of his subjects,
to whom, as their story was known, she would be particularly obnoxious.
He gave her a ring, in virtue of which he assured her she would in
future escape the persecution, and even the jealousy of her husband. He
then put into her hands his sword, with directions that it should never
be touched by man till his son was dubbed a knight; when it must be
delivered to him with due solemnity, near the tomb of his father, at the
moment he should learn the secret of his birth, and the miseries
produced by it. She would then see the first use to which her boy would
put it. The prince had nearly spent his last breath in the service of
his beloved mistress; he could only instruct her by signs to put on a
magnificent robe which lay near him, and hasten her departure. She
staggered through the town, arrived in the solitary fields, heard the
distant knell announce her lover's death, and sunk exhausted to the
ground. At length the air revived her; she slowly renewed her journey,
and returned to her castle, which, by virtue of her ring, she entered
undisturbed. Till the birth of her son, and from that time to the
conclusion of his education, she lived in silent anguish, and in patient
expectation of the day of vengeance. The young Ywonec, by his beauty and
address, recalled to her mind the loved image of his father; and at
length she beheld him, with a throbbing heart, invested, amidst the
applause of all the spectators, with the dignity of knighthood. The hour
of retribution was now fast approaching. At the feast of St. Aaron, in
the same year, the baron was summoned with his family to Caerleon, where
the festival was held with great solemnity. In the course of their
journey they stopped for the night in a spacious abbey, where they were
received with the greatest hospitality. The good abbot, for the purpose
of detaining his guests another day, exhibited to them the whole of the
apartments, the dormitory, the refectory, and the chapter-house, in
which they beheld a vast sepulchral monument, covered with a superb
pall, fringed with gold, and surrounded by twenty waxen tapers in golden
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account