Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-01-14
ALONzo TEE BRAVE AND THE FAIR
ImoGTEE

warrior so bold, and virgin SO bri-ht
COnversed as they sat on the green;
They gazed on each other with tender delight
Alonzo the brave was the name of the knight
The maiden's, the Fair lmogine.
"And, oh p said the youth, " since to morrOw go
To fight in a flr-distant land,
Your tears for my absence soon ce lsipg to flow,
Some other will court you, and you will bestow
On Weather suitor your hand |"
"oh hush these suspicious" Fair Imogine said,
Offensive to love and to me +;
For, ii you be living, or If you be dead,
| swear by the Virgin that none in your stead
Shall husband OF lmogine be.
=" If e'er T., by lust or by wealth led sside,
Forget my AlonZo she Brave,
God grant that to punish my falsehood and pride,
Your ghost at the marriage may sit by my side,
May tax me wi perjury, claim me as bride,
And bear me away to the grave
To Palestine hastened the hero SO bold,
His love she amented him sore;
But scarce had a twevemonth elapsed, when,
behold
A baron, all covered with jewels and gold,
Arrived at Fair iinogine's door.
His treasures. his presents, his spacious domain,
soon IN de her untrue to her VOWS;
He dazz ed her eyes, he bswildered her brain;
He caught her sff -ctiOns, so light and 50 vain,
And carried her home as his spouse
And now had the marriage been blest by the priest;
The revelry now was begun;
The tables they grolned with the weight OF the FEAST
Nor yet had the laughter and merriment ceased,
When the bell at the castle tolled-one
Then fr.t with amazement Fair Imogine found
A stranger was placed by her side:
His air was terrific; he uttered no sound
He spake not, he moved not, he looked not around
But earnestly gAzed on the bride
His visor was closed. and gigantic his hight,
His armor sable TO view;
All pleasure and laughter we're hushed at his sight ;
The dogs, as they eyed him. drew back in alright ;
The lights in the chamber burned blue
His presence all bosoms appeared to dismay;
The guests S It in silence and fear;
AT length spake the bride-whie she trembled "
pray,
Sir knight, that your helmet aside you would lay,
Aud deign to parta Ae OF our cheer"
The lady is silent; the stranger complies
His visor he slowly Enclosed
. God what sight met Fair Inogines eyes
What words can express her dismay and surprise
When a skeletons head was exposed
All present then uttered terrific shout,
All turned with sgust from the scene;
The worms they crept in, and the worms they crept
out,
And sported his eyes and his temples about,
While the specter addressed Imogne:
Behold me, thou false one, behold me p he cried
- Rememb Alonzo the Brave
God grants that, TO punish thy falsehood and pride,
MY ghost at thy marriage should sit by thy side;
Shosld tax thee with perjury, claim thee as bride,
And bear thse away the grave !"
! Thus saying, his arms round the lady he wound,
While loudly he shrieked in dismay;
Then sunk with his prey through the underwriting
ground,
Nor ever again Fair Imogine found,
Or the speeter that bore her away.
Not long lived the baron; and none, since that
time,
| To nhabit the castle presume
For chronicle tell that. by order sublime,
| There Imagine suffers the p lin of her crime,
| And mourns her deplorable doom.
At midnight four times in each year. does her prite,
When mortals in slumber are bound,
Arrayed in her bridal apparel of white,
| Appear in the ball with the skeleton knight,
| And shrek as he whirs her around
While they drink out of skulls newly torn from the
| grave,
Dancing round them the specters seen;
| Their liquor is blood, and this horrible staye
! They howl " To the health Of Alonzo the Brave,
And his coRsort, the Fair Imogine p
-[Matthew Gregory Lewis.