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But, ah! Elfrida's matchless charms Had won the guilty Edgar's heart;Rous'd the wild passions of his breast, And bade him act the villain's part.
For while to all he seem'd to bow At purest friendship's hallow'd fane,He did but plot the coward scheme Her plighted hand to falsely gain.
But now the direful trump of war Invok'd each brother to the field;Rinaldo left the maid he lov'd, For glitt'ring helmet, spear, and shield.
They parted, and Elfrida mourn'd Her absent love with streaming eyes;But, ah! that lover ne'er return'd To hush the maiden's ceaseless sighs.
For, oh! that chief in battle fell; But when the proud Sir Edgar came,With joy and triumph, base and bold, He soon confess'd th' unhallow'd flame."
"And did the perjur'd false one yield!" With wilder looks the stranger cried;—"Ah! no, but faithful still and true, She scorn'd his love," the swain replied.
"And when he press'd the weeping fair, With haughty look she still would say—
