n, the sense of what he sung, he chanted in
a sort of recitative one of those ancient adventures of love and
knighthood which were wont of yore to win the public attention. So soon
as he began to prelude, the insignificance of his personal appearance
seemed to disappear, and his countenance glowed with energy and
inspiration. His full, manly, mellow voice, so absolutely under command
of the purest taste, thrilled on every ear and to every heart. Richard,
rejoiced as after victory, called out the appropriate summons for
silence, "Listen, lords, in bower and hall"; while, with the zeal of a
patron at once and a pupil, he arranged the circle around, and hushed
them into silence; and he himself sat down with an air of expectation
and interest, not altogether unmixed with the gravity of the professed
critic. The courtiers turned their eyes on the King, that they might be
ready to trace and imitate the emotions his features should express, and
Thomas de Vaux yawned tremendously, as one who submitted unwillingly
to a wearisome penance. The song of Blondel was of course in the Norman
language, but the verses which follow express its meaning and its
manner.

THE BLOODY VEST.

'Twas near the fair city of Benevent,
When the sun was setting on bough and bent,
And knights were preparing in bower and tent,
On the eve of the Baptist's tournament;
When in Lincoln green a stripling gent,
Well seeming a page by a princess sent,
Wander'd the camp, and, still as he went,
Inquired for the Englishman, Thomas a Kent.

Far hath he far'd, and farther must fare,
Till he finds his pavilion nor stately nor rare,--
Little save iron and steel was there;
And, as lacking the coin to pay armourer's care,
With his sinewy arms to the shoulders bare,
The good knight with hammer and file did repair
The mail that to-morrow must see him wear,
For the honour of Saint John and his lady fair.

"Thus speaks my lady," the page said he,
And the knight bent lowly both head and knee,
"She is Benevent's Princess so high in degree,
And thou art as lowly as knight may well be--
He that would climb so lofty a tree,
Or spring such a gulf as divides her from thee,
Must dare some high deed, by which all men may see
His ambition is back'd by his hie chivalrie.

"Therefore thus speaks my lady," the fair page he said,