They saw the palace courtyard white with snow, And, placid as a nun, the moon on high Gazing from cloudy cloisters of the sky.
"Alas!" he said, "how hide the fatal line Of footprints leading from thy door to mine, And none returning!" Ah, he little knew What woman's wit, when put to proof, can do!
That night the Emperor, sleepless with the cares And troubles that attend on state affairs, Had risen before the dawn, and musing gazed Into the silent night, as one amazed To see the calm that reigned o'er all supreme, When his own reign was but a troubled dream.
The moon lit up the gables capped with snow, And the white roofs, and half the court below, And he beheld a form, that seemed to cower Beneath a burden, come from Emma's tower,--A woman, who upon her shoulders bore Clerk Eginhard to his own private door, And then returned in haste, but still essayed To tread the footprints she herself had made;And as she passed across the lighted space, The Emperor saw his daughter Emma's face!
He started not; he did not speak or moan, But seemed as one who hath been turned to stone;And stood there like a statue, nor awoke Out of his trance of pain, till morning broke, Till the stars faded, and the moon went down, And o'er the towers and steeples of the town Came the gray daylight; then the sun, who took The empire of the world with sovereign look, Suffusing with a soft and golden glow All the dead landscape in its shroud of snow, Touching with flame the tapering chapel spires, Windows and roofs, and smoke of household fires, And kindling park and palace as he came;The stork's nest on the chimney seemed in flame.
And thus he stood till Eginhard appeared, Demure and modest with his comely beard And flowing flaxen tresses, come to ask, As was his wont, the day's appointed task.
The Emperor looked upon him with a smile, And gently said: "My son, wait yet awhile;This hour my council meets upon some great And very urgent business of the state.
Come back within the hour.On thy return The work appointed for thee shalt thou learn.
Having dismissed this gallant Troubadour, He summoned straight his council, and secure And steadfast in his purpose, from the throne All the adventure of the night made known;Then asked for sentence; and with eager breath Some answered banishment, and others death.
Then spake the king: "Your sentence is not mine;Life is the gift of God, and is divine;
Nor from these palace walls shall one depart Who carries such a secret in his heart;My better judgment points another way.
Good Alcuin, I remember how one day When my Pepino asked you, 'What are men?'
You wrote upon his tablets with your pen, 'Guests of the grave and travellers that pass!'
This being true of all men, we, alas!
Being all fashioned of the selfsame dust, Let us be merciful as well as just;This passing traveller, who hath stolen away The brightest jewel of my crown to-day, Shall of himself the precious gem restore;By giving it, I make it mine once more.
Over those fatal footprints I will throw My ermine mantle like another snow."Then Eginhard was summoned to the hall, And entered, and in presence of them all, The Emperor said: "My son, for thou to me Hast been a son, and evermore shalt be, Long hast thou served thy sovereign, and thy zeal Pleads to me with importunate appeal, While I have been forgetful to requite Thy service and affection as was right.
But now the hour is come, when I, thy Lord, Will crown thy love with such supreme reward, A gift so precious kings have striven in vain To win it from the hands of Charlemagne."Then sprang the portals of the chamber wide, And Princess Emma entered, in the pride Of birth and beauty, that in part o'er-came The conscious terror and the blush of shame.
And the good Emperor rose up from his throne, And taking her white hand within his own Placed it in Eginhard's, and said: "My son This is the gift thy constant zeal hath won;Thus I repay the royal debt I owe, And cover up the footprints in the snow."INTERLUDE
Tnus ran the Student's pleasant rhyme Of Eginhard and love and youth;Some doubted its historic truth, But while they doubted, ne'ertheless Saw in it gleams of truthfulness, And thanked the Monk of Lauresheim.
This they discussed in various mood;
Then in the silence that ensued Was heard a sharp and sudden sound As of a bowstring snapped in air;And the Musician with a bound Sprang up in terror from his chair, And for a moment listening stood, Then strode across the room, and found His dear, his darling violin Still lying safe asleep within Its little cradle, like a child That gives a sudden cry of pain, And wakes to fall asleep again;And as he looked at it and smiled, By the uncertain light beguiled, Despair! two strings were broken in twain.
While all lamented and made moan, With many a sympathetic word As if the loss had been their own, Deeming the tones they might have heard Sweeter than they had heard before, They saw the Landlord at the door, The missing man, the portly Squire!
He had not entered, but he stood With both arms full of seasoned wood, To feed the much-devouring fire, That like a lion in a cage Lashed its long tail and roared with rage.
The missing man! Ah, yes, they said, Missing, but whither had he fled?
Where had he hidden himself away?
No farther than the barn or shed;
He had not hidden himself, nor fled;
How should he pass the rainy day But in his barn with hens and hay, Or mending harness, cart, or sled?
Now, having come, he needs must stay And tell his tale as well as they.
The Landlord answered only: "These Are logs from the dead apple-trees Of the old orchard planted here By the first Howe of Sudbury.
