Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE LADY OF ROSENECK, by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE LADY OF ROSENECK, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: It's a merry song of the blustering days when troopers were rough and raw
Last Line: "a wife so brave, and a wife so kind, and a wife with such a back!"
Subject(s): Love - Marital; Wedded Love; Marriage - Love


It's a merry song of the blustering days when troopers were rough and raw,
And armies knew naught of the hindering ways of international law,
For 'twas Ho! to the sword! and Ho! to the spear! and Up, my lads, and away!
And woe to the foe that came blundering near the glittering, gallant array.
And there wasn't a chemist to cut them in half with explosives out of a book,
And there wasn't a wireless telegraph to tell the road that they took,
And the cannon they trundled were aimed by men and not by a patented rack,
And they didn't go up in balloons to ken the enemy's bivouac!
And 'twas hand to hand in a decent style, with a spirit light and free;
For a cannon that carried half a mile was a wonderful thing to see!

The Swiss were abroad in those gallant days, and looking for German gore,
And many a hamlet they left ablaze, and castles -- a dozen or more.
But one of the castles gave them pause, a castle lordly and fair,
And stoutly they pressed the siege, because their bitterest foe was there.
Yes, there was the Baron of Roseneck whom the Swiss had been seeking long;
And ah, might the onset triumphantly wreck that enemy bold and strong!
So they battered and hammered and shouted and blazed in a style the reverse of meek,
And the very Old Henry persistently raised for the greater part of a week,
Till at last -- at last -- it was perfectly plain, and the boldest man could see
That further resistance was wholly vain, and foolish as foolish could be.
So the Germans asked for the victors' terms, and waited in anxious dread
While the Swiss passed doom on the conquered worms, and these were the words they said:
"You may all go free, if you leave straightway; and, lest you should wholly lack,
As much of your goods you may carry away as you can, upon your back.
But the Baron of Roseneck alone is barred from our mercy free:
By the forfeit of life must he atone for all his iniquity."

Ah, then in the castle was tumult of mind, and puzzles a sage to tax:
Just what of their assets to leave behind, and what to put on their backs.
This silver goblet? this doublet rare? this dress that has gowned a bride?
And the more they debate and discuss and compare, the more they cannot decide.
But the trumpet sounds an impatient blast, for the victors will not wait long,
And forth from the castle gate at last there pours a reluctant throng.
Matron and maid and scullion and knight go stumbling along the road,
Each struggling away, with main and might, beneath a mountainous load.
The Swiss look on at the cavalcade, and many a man is grim
A-thinking how much of that wealth had made a suitable pack for him.
But now, but now, at the end of all, who staggers across the moat,
Who, with the face where the roses fall, and who with the snowy throat?
Sweet is the face that the roses deck, and glorious is her pack,
For it is the Lady of Roseneck, with the Baron upon her back!
No gems of all her glittering store, no laces or silks has she:
She claims the Baron, nor asks for more; the whole of her goods is he!

Then loudly shouted the gallant Swiss applauding the wifely deed,
And they pressed the lady's hand to kiss, and granted the well-earned meed.
"Go free!" they shouted, "and not alone, but take the Baron as well,
And carry with you whatever you own to grace the form of a belle."
The Baron dismounted, and quickly the two, their backs weighed wealthily down,
The cheering ranks of the Swiss passed through, nor met a threatening frown;
And many a gallant turned his head to watch them trudging away,
And many a trooper sighing said on many an after day,
"Oh, would that the fates to me assigned, -- oh, would that I owned, alack!
A wife so brave, and a wife so kind, and a wife with such a back!"





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