Page:Poems David.djvu/105

  Oh! thou must search, but ye shall win
   A beauty unsurpass'd before.
  Beware, sir knight, a snow white hind
   Shall be the means of Leslie's fall;—
  When by thy guardian spirit's tree
   The white doe shall be heard to call!"

The train divides, and in their mid'st behold
A coal black steed, in trappings wrought with gold.
"Follow sir knight, and from my magic hand
Receive the good steed Hilderbrand,
He shall ever bear thee both true and well,
On mountain bleak, o'er valley, hill or dell."
As the spirit spoke, the scene began to fade,
And all resum'd its dark and dusky shade,
And wild and mocking laughter rang around.
It slowly ceased: and then not a single sound
Was heard by Jasper 'mid the Kenna's dell
Save the music of the distant convent bell.
No sound of living footsteps thro' the wood,
As at his side the proud Hilderbrand stood.
But now stretched low beneath yon tree, there lay,
Cold alas! in death his proud ardent bay!
On rode Sir Jasper o'er the mountain crest,
When a fiery glow in the darken'd west,
Lit up the wild forest, and all around.—