The gladsome bounding of his aged hound,
Say he in truth is here—our long, long lost is found.
"Hymned thanks and bedesmen praying,
With sheathed sword the urchin playing;
Blazon'd hall with torches burning,
Cheerful morn in peace returning;
Converse sweet that strangely borrows
Present bliss from former sorrows,
O who can tell each blessed sight and sound,
That says, he with us bides, our long, long lost is found."
Mean-while, the Holy Legate, on his way to Rome, has been driven on the Isle, and a noble stranger, in his train solicits an interview with Aurora—as the friend of Ermingard. Their meeting is such as Joanna alone could have conceived and after a while Aurora says:
"Aur. Bade thee! is he then at hand?
Gar. Ah, would he were!
'Twas in a hostile and a distant land,
He did commit to me these precious tokens,
Desiring me to give them to Aurora,
And with them too, his sad and last farewell.
Aur. And he is dead!
Gar. Nay, wring not thus your hands:
He was alive and well when he intrusted me
With what I now return.
[Offering her a small casket.
Aur. Alive and well, and sends me back my tokens!
Gar. He sent them back to thee as Ulrick's wife;
For such, forced by intelligence from hence
Of strong authority, he did believe thee:
And in that fatal fight, which shortly follow'd,
He fought for death as shrewdly as for fame.
Fame he indeed hath earn'd.
Aur.But not the other?
Ah do not say he has! Amongst the slain
His body was not found.
Gar. As we have learnt, the Knights of blest St John
Did from the field of dying and of wounded
Many convey, who in their house of charity
All care and solace had; but with the names,
Recorded as within their walls received,
His is not found; therefore we must account him
With those, who, shrouded in an unknown fate,
Are as the dead lamented, as the dead,
For ever from our worldly care dismiss'd.
Aur. Lamented he shall be; but from my care
Dismiss'd as are the dead—that is impossible.
Ter. Nay, listen to advice so wise and needful!
It is the friend of Ermingard who says,
Let him within thy mind be as the dead.
Aur. My heart repels the thought: it cannot be.
No ; till his corse bereft of life is found;
Till this is sworn, and proved, and witness'd to me,
Within my breast he shall be living still.
Ter. Wilt thou yet vainly watch night after night
To guide his bark who never will return?
Aur. Who never will return! And thinkest thou
To bear me down with such presumptuous words?
Heaven makes me strong against thee.
There is a Power above that calms the storm;
Restrains the mighty; gives the dead to life:—
I will in humble faith my watch still keep;
Force only shall restrain me.
Gar. Force never shall, thou noble, ardent spirit!
Thy gen'rous confidence wou'd almost tempt me
To think it will be justified.
Aur. Ha! say'st thou so? A blessing rest upon thee
For these most cheering words! Some guardian power
Whispers within thee.No; we'll not despair."
Night descends, and the Beacon blazes—and Bastiani, a friend of Ulrick's, and of Aurora's too, enters, saying to the fishermen—
"A boat near to the shore,
In a most perilous state, calls for assistance:
Who is like thee, good Stephen, bold and skilful?
Haste to its aid if there be pity in thee,
Or any Christian grace. I will, meantime,
Thy Beacon watch, and, should the lady come,
Excuse thy absence.
Here is, indeed, a splendid, noble fire,
Left me in ward, It makes the darkness round,
To its fierce light opposed, seem thick and palpable,
And closed o'er head, like to the pitchy cope
Of some vast cavern.
Enter Aurora, Terentia, and Viola.
Viol. A rousing light! Good Stephen hath full well
