The heir of Lyolynn. A tale of sea and land

Index

Lyolynn. Page.

Lays of Ancient Times.

Battle of Marathon, - - - 438

Battle of Thermopyl^, - - 454

Battle of Cann^, - - - - 481

Charge of Oddune, - - - • 502

Battle op Eddington, - - - 511

Song op the Engineer, - - 521

The Drought, .... 523

To Lizzie, 529

To May, 529

To Em, 530

My Yankee Maid, - - - 530

Riddles, 536

Mortals, 640

Part I

Peal upon peal the thunder rolled, To utter space its fury told ; Like demons of terrific mold The blinding lightnings flash'd ; Beneath the tempest fierce and cold — The surges reel'd and clash'd. With ceaseless roar upon the shore ■ They ever heaved and toss'd ; High in air o'er grim headlands hoar The foamy waters cross'd . Far out upon the raging deep, A league from shore, I ween — Careening to the storm-king's sweep A stately ship Avas seen : No helm nor sail could e'er avail, And all the art of man would fail In such a frightful storm — To save her from the awful clifts, Those grim enormous peaks and rifts — That those high headlands form . Still nearer to the frowning shore, Where mountain surges break and roar- She drew with every blast ;

THE HEIR OE LYOLYNN.

Upon the storm her sails were borne,

To flying shreds and atoms torn,

And broken every mast .

Ah, was it a stunning thunder roll,

O'er leaping all the storm's control —

The tempest bore awaj^ 1

Ah, no I High on that awful reef.

Beyond all mortal men's relief

That ship a ruin lay.

While hard against the ghastly wreck

The billows waged their fra}',

O'er human freight that thronged her

deck — High dashed the briny spray.

n.

Like awful shadow of a ghost —

Night sank upon the frowning coast,

And o'er the raging deep,

Dreader the shades of darkness scowl.

While with their hoarse infernal howl

The chilling tempests sweep,

Still flashed o'er floods where billows dash

The lightnings' rudd}'- flame.

Still with their stunning, deafening crash

The peals of thunder came .

And never night more dreadful fell

Upon a ship-wrecked crew,

For never storms with fiercer yell

O'er plunging billows flew ;

For never grimmer seas than those

On rocks a vessel threw,

Never more awful shores arose.

Did fiercer peaks and rifts disclose

To ship- wrecked mortals' view.

THE HEIR OF LYOLYNN.

III. As burst o'er land and surges' roar

The lightnings' tingeing glow —

All grim and ghast did sea and shore

The swollen corses show.

O'er roar of seas and thunder peal

And tempests' fiercest breath,

Was heard the dread piercing shrieks

Of those who fought 'gainst death .

At rock and floating corse thej caught

And madly strove for life,

Each striving but himself to save

In that unequal strife.

Ah, sad and mournfully arose

From out those waters wild —

The farewell, parting , dying cries

Of parent and of child !

Oh, the bubbling, pitieous shrieks

Of mothers in the wave.

Who held aloft their little babes,

But found no hand to save !

Oh, God ! the farewell, parting cry

Of husband and of wife,

As in their last embrace they. Sank

And rendered up their life !

Oh, God I it deadens nerve and limb,

And makes the senses reel and swim,

And human blood grow cold.

To hear such pitieous, parting shrieks,

And such dread scenes behold !

To hear the blending shrieks that rise

Above the tempests' roar,

The breaking of the vessel's planks

And surges on the shore.

THE HEIR OF LYOLTNN.

Died out the wail of agony —

But here and there arose —

The wild cry of some strong swimmer

In his last dying throes .

'Till all grew still, save the fierce howl,

And the terrific roar

Of relentless blasts, and surges

Dashing on the granite shore.

IV. High up a tall slippery rock

That frowned o'er floods sublime,

Whose head lean'd o'er the waves as though

To hear their awful chime,

Whose iron base had worn away

By storms and waves through time,

Nine of that crew with bleeding hands

Where seen to slowly climb .

All the rest full three hundred souls

That noble vessel bore —

Lay lifeless midst the raging brine

Or on the beaten shore.

As drift-wood that in the flood time

Floats where the torrents rove,

That in rafts on eddying floods

Sweeps to a circling cove,

And rocks with waves until by them

It on the shore is hove.

So by those seas the dead were borne,

Up on the shore were drove.

While some sank in the di'ead abyss

Where did roaring eddies flow,

Where horrid sharks and serpents vast

Siezed them as they went below.

THE HEIR OF LYOLYNN.

8uch the Sovereign will of Heaven, The fiat of their God, At whose will seas and tempests roar, The mountains quake and nod, His mighty spirit trod the flood, And rode the storm sublime. And bade the warring elements Knell their funeral chime.

But who were those nine bleeding forms

That climbed the frowning rock,

Which to its deep foundation shook

Beneath each billows' shock ?

The foremost was a swartly man

With features sharp and long,

With form thick set, compact and broad

Sinewy limbs and strong.

His piercing eyes were black as sloes,

Or coals of anthracite.

Black as wood when charred by flame,

But sheen as Labradorite.

And in their keen vindictive glance

Lurked deepest craft and guile,

His shaggy brows waved dark above

His features stamped with wile.

His nose projected o'er his mouth

All like an eagle's bill.

And on his thin, curving lips were seen

The proofs of stubborn will .

His sable curls waved heavy round

A forehead bold and high .

His bearings all revealed a mortal

Of blackest, deepest dye.

THE HEIR OP LYOLYNN.

And such, was Omar De Yaux

The foremost of that throng

Who toil'd up the slippery rocks

With nerves and sinews strong.

And on hia back a child he bore

Whose face was j^ale and thin,

Whose heavy, golden ciirls fell o'er

A neck of snowy skin .

A little girl twelve summers old, with

Rosy mouth and dimpled chin,

A child all beautiful and bright.

The heir of Lyolynn .

Poor child, she'd seen her parents go

Locked in one close embrace —

Beneath the ocean's stormy flow

And end their earthly race.

And she with them beneath the wave

Had found a roaring, angry grave,

Sank like the reed that in the cave

Of ocean sinks forlorn —

Had Omar's arm not come to save.

And on the rock with courage brave

Her slender frame had borne.

VI. The next who up that steep rock strode

Was one of giant height.

His close curled hair and sable skin

Like ebon cloud of night.

Black, blacker far than coke or tar,

Than gome or soot or jet.

Black as the floods when at black night

They 'neath no tempests fret .

THE HEIR OF LYOLYNN.

He was one of Afric's children,

Darkest hued of all that race,

No blacker skin e'er shone upon

An Etheopean face.

Seamed o'er were his high massy cheeks

With horrid gash and scar'

Where knives in days gone by had past

Midst drunken broil and jar.

One eye was gone, the other roll'd

With never ceasing blink,

Bobbing like some huge ball of white

In seas of blackest ink.

His receding forehead, at least

Where forehead should have been —

Seemed though an axe had passed that way

And hewed it clear and clean,

For from his brows unto his crown

Sloped with a mighty lean.

No flatter nose, no wider mouth

On Kangaroo was seen,

But two huge tuskes were left to gleam

His massy lips between.

As some grim monster of the sea

Up the steep rock he crept,

With his long coiling snake-like limbs

His hold with safety kept.

De Yaux's trusty slave was he,

His guard both night and day,

Where e'er the master chose to go

The slave was sure to stray.

One more suited to the other

Chanced never to befall.

And Bayard was this footman called

By master and by all.

THE HEIR OF LYOLYNN.

VII. As up the rock he struggled hard

De Yaux's wife he bore,

Whose raven tresses hung in folds

His sable shoulders o'er.

O'er her form that all was graceful

Though rather tall and lean,

Full twenty years had ta'en their flight

To look at her, 3'ou'd ween.

Her eyes were bright as diamond's light,

A.nd black as thunder cloud.

Her face was pale as snow-white sail.

Or corpse in sable shroud.

Her curved lips could scarce eclipse

The pearls that 'neath them crowd,

Her stately tread and queenly head

That never bent nor bowed —

Her forehead high and flashing eye

Bespake her spirit proud.

Fell on the ear like music rare

Her voice though deep and loud ;

Her skin that beamed too snowy seemed

For one so sable browed.

Though all her face did features trace

Queens had left their crowns to own,

Yet over all like heavy pall

A tell-tale sign was thrown —

And showed you one whose love anon

Could wither where it grew.

Let there fell hate as fixed as fate

Dethrone all love she knew.

THE HEIR OP LYOLYNN.

VIII. The rest I could in order limn

As there they were with mornful brow,

And features haggared, gaunt and grim,

But I needs must pass them now.

If e'er the muse should seek their aid

Trust to her she'll find them soon.

Let them room in eternal shade.

In midnight, morn, or glowing noon.

No depth so deep no height so tall

To which she cannot dive or bound.

And swift they '11 gather at her call

When e'er she peals the summon's sound.

But ere we pass them lightly by,

Those haggared men, those wretched five,

"Who climbed the rock so steep and high —

Though bleeding, faint and scarce alive ;

We'll paint their portraits one by one,

Hold them fast within our mind,

So when they come to us anon

No utter strangers we shall find.

Hunyadi was the next who climbed.

Ballad rhyming formed his trade.

And by his muse that sweetly chimed

The glowing wine he loved he made.

Fair was his form though brawny spread,

His sinews nobly grooved and laired,

His high broad brow and stately head

With yellow wavy locks were haired.

Ever in dreamy mood he seemed,

As though his thoughts were far away,

The soul that in him flashed and beamed

Loved from its mortal part to stray.

His was the arm that from the wave To the rock Omar's wife had borne, Whence Bayard stretched his arm to save, Who first upon the rock had gone. And others long he strove to save, Nor vainly, vainly did he strive, 'Till hurled there was he by rolling wave, Torn, bleeding, sore and scarce alive. The other four who struggled o'er That frowning rock so tall and steep — Hunyadi's hand had brought to land From out the plunging billows' sweep. The next that came was Roger Lea, Amongst that tempest beaten crowd, An aged hoary man was he With body feeble, bent and bowed. His wrinkled face displayed no trace Of kindly thought for human kind, Nought but insatiate greed and gain Filled his whole heart and soul and mind. His hoards by millions he could count. Yet ever, ever craved he more. Though as a never ceasing fount Bright gold did in his coffers pour. Woe to the luckless sons of man Who owed to him and could not pay. Right soon that toothless mouth o'er ran Those bloodless lips with spittly spray ; And no excuse that they could plan Would save them from the Sheriff's prey. His face no smile was seen to span, Nor on his wrinkled visage play, Save when some fool he chanced to scau Whom he could cheat of hoard away.

THE HKIR OF LYOLTNN. H

IX. Guy Harold was the next we scann'd

On that high rock by tempests fann'd,

And roaring billows laved ;

A tar of tall and brawny form,

A nurseling of the waves and storm,

He'd all their terrors braved.

His soul was just as wild and free

As wave that rose upon the sea,

And with the tempest raved.

On ocean he'd been born and rear'd

To manhood's sturdy prime,

And bred 'mongst men who little fear'd

To peril deeds sublime,

In his keen gra}^ unquailing eye

There lurked a mj^stic spell,

And beamed his glances proud and high

That challenged where they fell.

Little he cared for that grim wreck

That there was round him strown.

For since he'd trod on vessel's deck

Full many he had known.

Far off his piercing glances gazed

O'er ocean's rise and fall,

To where a reeling light-house blazed

Midst surges grim and tall.

And as the pharos downward passed

'Neath ocean's stormy flow,

A dirge he poured upon the blast

All freighted wild with woo.

At length with husky voice he said,

"Within that light-house dwelt

The one for whom my soul has most

The germ of friendship felt.

Whose image never shall depart

Through all revolving time,

But graven on this filial heart

Until eternity shall start

To hear her death notes chime.

For his strong love for me did last

Through all my weal and woe.

When clouds were grimmest round me cast

With all their flery glow,

Yes, perils terrible and ghast,

When ten-fold was my foe,

And me all other aid fled fast

His love did warmest flow.

Together oft on stormy flood

Amidst the battle's wreck.

Terrific scenes of death aud blood,

We twain have trod the deck.

'Twas he who taught my tottering feet

When but a babe to move.

Who ever tempered cold and heat

So they'd to my comfort prove.

Who through all day-time me caressed,

And when the day was done —

At night lay down with me to rest,

Yes, I his only son.

Who has aye been foremost in my soul

In peace or calm or wreck,

When tempests bade the billows roll,

And surges washed the deck.

Who in yon light-house 'neath the sea

This instant met his death,

With whom I shall in reunion be

When fails this vital breath.

Yes, death shall another mating bring

Be3'ond the i3ortals of the tomb,

Nor shall e'er we assunder be

As was here on earth our doom.

A stately ship will shortl^^ come

I'll see it through the densest gloom,

With sails all spread from topmost mast

To furthest shrouds and boom.

I shall hear the waters splash

As she bears me to that solemn shore

Where shall reunited be in peace

The sire and son for ever more.

He ceased but still kept his vision fixed

On ocean's stormy flow,

At times with the howling tempest mixed

A dirge of wildest woe.

X. Next on that craggy steep incline

Close lying side by side supine

Bi-acklin and O'Conna lay,

And sighing gazed upon the brine

That o'er them dashed its spray.

Poor wretches they had husbands been

And fathers yesterday,

But in those roaring floods they'd seen

Their idols washed away.

Oh, who could paint their looks of woe,

Their faces haggard, wild.

As there they lay and sorrowed low

For perished wife and child ?

Theirs was a blow a shock that makes

The senses rock and reel,

A grief that takes the soul and breaks

It on a burning wheel,

Grief for which earth can no balm bestow,

Nor time can ever heal,

That grim wild woe no words can sliow,

Nor limner e'er reveal.

The pale, writhed and quivering lip,

Loosed nerve and reeling brain,

The trembling hand, the quaking grip —

Palsied through mental pain —

The form convulsed with agony

"Wracked with its tortured soul —

The red and fixed and glaring eye —

Whose scoothing fount of tears is dry —

Or froze and cannot roll —

The pleading and imploring look

On features ashen'd by despair —

Which tell the form no more can brook

The throes that through its spirit tear —

Are awful pictures to behold.

Most ghastly, dread and strange and drear.

But euch signs as these the anguish told

Of those two mortals lying there.

Still seemed to come from out the wave

The bubbling shriek, the drowning cry,

Of those dear ones they could not save

And seen amidst the waters die.

But grief through time will reach its goal

Past which it cannot range

And it will nature soon control,

It to some thino; else will chanare.