Page 167 - the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood

For he hath wrought thee bitter harm,
By some strange art or cunning charm.’

‘Then, with a sad and mournful song,
Away the bird did fly,
And o’er the castle eaves, and through
The gray and windy sky.
‘Come forth!’ then cried the brother grim,
‘Why dost thou gaze so after him?’

‘It is May Ellen’s wedding day,
The sky is blue and fair,
And many a lord and lady gay
In church are gathered there.
The bridegroom was Sir Hugh the Bold,
All clad in silk and cloth of gold.

‘In came the bride in samite white
With a white wreath on her head;
Her eyes were fixed with a glassy look,
Her face was as the dead,
And when she stood among the throng,
She sang a wild and wondrous song.

‘Then came a strange and rushing sound
Like the coming wind doth bring,
And in the open windows shot
Nine swans on whistling wing,
And high above the heads they flew,

1 The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood