g!" To him shall Cambria bow,
And Alba's self. His strength is in his God;
The third part of his time he gives to prayer,
And God shall hear his vows! Hail, mighty King!
For aye thine England's glory! As I gaze,
Methinks I see a likeness on thy brow,
Likeness to one who kneels beside my feet!
The sceptre comes to him who sceptre spurned;
Through him it comes who sceptre clasped in sport;
From Wessex' soil shall England's hope be born
Two centuries hence; and Alfred is his name!'

EPILOGUE.

_BEDE'S LAST MAY._

Bede issues forth from Jarrow, and visiting certain villagers in a
wood, expounds to them the Beatitudes of Our Lord. Wherever he goes
he seeks records of past times, and promises in return that he will
bequeath to his fellow-countrymen translations from divers Sacred
Scriptures, and likewise a history of God's Church in their land.
Having returned to his monastery, he dies a most happy death on the
feast of the Ascension, while finishing his translation of St.
John's gospel.

The ending of the Book of Saxon Saints.
With one lay-brother only blessed Bede,
In after times 'The Venerable' named,
Passed from his convent, Jarrow. Where the Tyne
Blends with the sea, all beautiful it stood,
Bathed in the sunrise. At the mouth of Wear
A second convent, Wearmouth, rose. That hour
The self-same matin splendour gilt them both;
And in some speech of mingling lights, not words,
Both sisters praised their God.
'Apart, yet joined'--
So mused the old man gazing on the twain:
Then onward paced, with head above his book,
Murmuring his office. Algar walked behind,
A youth of twenty years, with tonsured head,
And face, though young, forlorn. An hour had passed;
They reached a craggy height; and looking back,
Beheld once more beyond the forest roof
Those two fair convents glittering--at their feet
Those two clear rivers winding! Bound by rule,
Again the monk addressed him to his book;
Lection and psalm recited, thus he spake:

'Why placed our holy Founder thus so near
His convents? Why, albeit a single rule,
At last a single hand, had sway o'er both,
Placed them at distance? Hard it were to guess:
I know but this, that severance here on earth
Is strangely linked with union of the hea