s.
The entrance-door was closed, lest aught intrude
Upon the sanctity of this sad hour.
The inner choir they enter, part in shade
And part in light, for now the rising moon 280
Began to glance upon the shrines, and tombs,
And pillars. Trembling through the windows high,
One beam, a moment, on that cold gray stone
Is flung--the word "Infelix"[106] is scarce seen.
Behold his gravestone! Osgood said. Each eye
Was turned. A while intent they gazed, then knelt
Before the altar, on the marble stone!
No sound was heard through all the dim expanse
Of the vast building, none but of the air
That came in dying echoes up the aisle, 290
Like whispers heard at the confessional.
Thus Harold's children, hand in hand, knelt down--
Upon their father's grave knelt down, and prayed:
Have mercy on his soul--have mercy, Lord!
They knelt a lengthened space, and bowed their heads,
Some natural tears they shed, and crossed their breasts;
Then rising slowly up, looked round, and saw
A monk approaching near, unmarked before;
And in the further distance the tall form
As of a female. He who wore the hood 300
And habit of a monk approached and spoke:
Brothers! beloved sister! know ye not
These features?--and he raised his hood--Behold
Me--me, your brother Marcus! whom these weeds,
Since last we met, have hidden from the world:
Let me kneel with you here!
When Adela 407
Beheld him, she exclaimed, Oh! do we meet
Here, my lost brother, o'er a father's grave?
You live, restored a moment in this world,
To us as from the grave! And Godwin took
His hand, and said, My brother, tell us all;
How have you lived unknown? Oh! tell us all!
When in that grave our father, he replied,
Was laid, ye fled, and I in this sad land
Remained to cope with fortune. To these walls
I came, when Ailric, from his vows absolved,
With you was wandering. None my lineage knew,
Or name, but I some time had won regard
From the superior. Osgood knew me not, 420
For with Earl Edwin I had lived from youth.
To our superior thus I knelt and prayed:
Sir, I beseech you, for the love of God,
And of our Lady Mary, and St John,
You would receive me here to live and die
Among