The first day passed--he saw not her--Gulnare-- The second, third--and still she came not there; But what her words avouched, her charms had done, Or else he had not seen another Sun. The fourth day rolled along, and with the night Came storm and darkness in their mingling might. Oh! how he listened to the rushing deep, That ne'er till now so broke upon his sleep; And his wild Spirit wilder wishes sent, 1420 Roused by the roar of his own element! Oft had he ridden on that wingéd wave, And loved its roughness for the speed it gave; And now its dashing echoed on his ear, A long known voice--alas! too vainly near! Loud sung the wind above; and, doubly loud, Shook o'er his turret cell the thunder-cloud;[232] And flashed the lightning by the latticed bar, To him more genial than the Midnight Star: Close to the glimmering grate he dragged his chain, 1430 And hoped _that_ peril might not prove in vain. He rais'd his iron hand to Heaven, and prayed One pitying flash to mar the form it made: His steel and impious prayer attract alike-- The storm rolled onward, and disdained to strike; Its peal waxed fainter--ceased--he felt alone, As if some faithless friend had spurned his groan! VIII. The midnight passed, and to the massy door A light step came--it paused--it moved once more; Slow turns the grating bolt and sullen key: 1440 'Tis as his heart foreboded--that fair She! Whate'er her sins, to him a Guardian Saint, And beauteous still as hermit's hope can paint; Yet changed since last within that cell she came, More pale her cheek, more tremulous her frame: On him she cast her dark and hurried eye, Which spoke before her accents--"Thou must die! Yes, thou must die--there is but one resource, The last--the worst--if torture were not worse." "Lady! I look to none; my lips proclaim 1450 What last proclaimed they--Conrad still the same: Why should'st thou seek an outlaw's life to spare, And change the sentence I deserve to bear? Well have I earned--nor here alone--the meed Of Seyd's revenge, by many a lawless deed."