Classic and Contemporary Poetry
OLD HEC'S IDOLATRY, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Heigh-o! Our jolly tilts at new Last Line: Nor heard of him again, nor cared to hear. Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F. Subject(s): Courts & Courtiers; Fantasy; Knights & Knighthood; Singing & Singers | ||||||||
HEIGH-O! our jolly tilts at New World song! -- What was the poem indeed! and where the bard -- "Stabbing his ink-pot ever, not his heart," As Hector phrased it contumeliously, Mouthing and munching, at the orchard-stile, A water-cored rambo whose spirted juice Glanced, sprayed and flecked the sunlight as he mouth'd And muncht, and muncht and mouth'd. All loved the man! "Our Hector" as his Alma Mater oozed It into utterance -- "Old Hec" said we Who knew him, hide-and-tallow, hoof-and-horn! So he: "O ay! my soul! our New World song -- The tweedle-deedles of our modern school -- A school of minnows, -- not one gamy bass -- To hook the angler, not the angler him. Here! all ye little fishes: tweedle-dee! Soh! one -- along the vasty stream of time -- Glints to the surface with a gasp, -- and, lo, A bubble! and he thinks, 'My eye! -- see there, Ye little fishes, -- there's a song I've sung!' Another gapes: another bubble; then He thinks: 'Well, is it not a wondrous art To breathe a great immortal poem like that!' And then another -- and another still -- And yet another, -- till from brim to brim The tide is postuled over with a pest Of bubbles -- bursting bubbles! Ay! O ay!" So, bluff old Hec. And we, who knew his mood Had ramped its worst -- unless we roused it yet To ire's horiffickest insanity By some inane, unguarded reference To "verse beragged in Hoosier dialect" -- (A strangely unforgotten coinage of Old Hec's, long years agone) -- we, so, forbore A word, each glimpsing each, as down we sank, Couched limply in the orchard's selvage, where -- The rambo finished and the soggy core Zippt at a sapphire wasp with waist more slim Than any slender lady's, of old wars, Pent fasting for long sennights in tall towers That overtop the undercringing seas -- With one accordant voice, the while he creased His scroll of manuscript, we said, "Go on." Then Hector thus: AN IDYL OF THE KING Erewhile, as Autumn, to King Arthur's court Came Raelus, clamoring: "Lo, has our house Been sacked and pillaged by a lawless band Of robber knaves, led on by Alstanes, The Night-Flower named, because of her fair face, All like a lily gleaming in the dusk Of her dark hair -- and like a lily brimmed With dewy eyes that drip their limpid smiles Like poison out, for by them has been wro't My elder brother's doom, as much I fear. While three days gone was holden harvest-feast At Lynion Castle -- clinging like a gull High up the gray cliffs of Caerleon -- Came, leaf-like lifted from the plain below As by a twisted wind, a rustling pack Of bandit pillagers, with Alstanes Bright-fluttering like a red leaf in the front. And ere we were aware of fell intent -- Not knowing whether it was friend or foe -- We found us in their toils, and all the house In place of guests held only prisoners -- Save that the host, my brother, wro't upon By the strange beauty of the robber queen, Was left unfettered, but by silken threads Of fine-spun flatteries and wanton smiles Of the enchantress, till her villain thieves Had rifled as they willed and signal given To get to horse again. And so they went -- Their leader flinging backward, as she rode, A kiss to my mad brother -- mad since then, -- For from that sorry hour he but talked Of Alstanes, and her rare beauty, and Her purity -- ay, even that he said Was star-white, and should light his life with love Or leave him groping blindly in its quest Thro' all eternity. So, sighing, he Went wandering about till set of sun, Then got to horse, and bade us all farewell; And with his glamoured eyes bent trancedly Upon the tumbled sands that marked the way The robber-woman went, he turned and chased His long black shadow o'er the edge of night." -- So Raelus, all seemingly befret With such concern as nipped his utterance In scraps of speech: at which Sir Lancelot, Lifting a slow smile to the King, and then Turning his cool eye on the youth -- "And you Would track this siren-robber to her hold And rout her rascal followers, and free Your brother from the meshes of this queen Of hearts -- for there you doubtless think him?" "Ay!" Foamed Raelus, cheek flushed and eye aflame, -- "So even have I tracked, and found them, too, And know their burrow, shrouded in a copse, Where, faring in my brother's quest, I heard The nicker of his horse, and followed on, And found him tethered in a thicket wild, As tangled in its tress of leaf and limb As is a madman's hair; and down the path That parted it and ran across a knoll And dipped again, all suddenly I came Upon a cave, wide-yawning 'neath a beard Of tangled moss and vine, whence issuing I heard, blown o'er my senses faint and clear As whiffs of summer wind, my brother's voice Lilting a love-song, with the burden tricked With dainty warblings of a woman's tongue: And even as I listening bent, I heard Such peals of wanton merriment as made My own heart flutter as a bird that beats For freedom at the bars that prison it. So turned I then and fled as one who flies To save himself alone -- forgetful all Of that my dearer self -- my brother. -- O!" -- Breaking as sharply as the icy blade That loosens from the eave to slice the air And splinter into scales of flying frost -- "Thy help! Thy help! A dozen goodly knights -- Ay, even that, if so it be their hearts Are hungry as my own to right the wrong!" So Raelus. And Arthur graciously Gave ear to him, and, patient, heard him thro', And pitied him, and granted all he asked; Then took his hand and held it, saying, "Strong And ever stronger may its grasp be knit About the sword that flashes in the cause Of good." Thus Raelus, on the morrow's front, Trapped like a knight and shining like a star, Pranced from the archway of the court, and led His glittering lances down the gleaming road That river-like ran winding till it slipped Out of the palace view and spilled their shields Like twinkling bubbles o'er the mountain brim. Then happed it that as Raelus rode, his tongue Kept even pace and cantered ever on Right merrily. His brother, as he said, Had such an idle soul within his breast -- Such shallowness of fancy for his heart To drift about in -- that he well believed Its anchor would lay hold on any smile The lees of womanhood might offer him. As for himself, he loved his brother well, Yet had far liefer see him stark and white In marble death than that his veins should burn With such vitality as spent its flame So garishly it knew no steady blaze, But ever wavered round as veered the wind Of his conceit; for he had made his boast -- Tho' to his own shame did he speak of it -- That with a wink he could buy every smile That virtue owned. So tattled Raelus Till, heated with his theme, he lifted voice And sang the song, "The Light of Woman's Eyes!" "O bright is gleaming morn on mountain height; And bright the moon, slipt from its sheath of night, -- But brighter is the light of woman's eyes. "And bright the dewdrop, trembling on the lip Of some red rose, or lily petal-tip, Or lash of pink, -- but brighter woman's eyes. "Bright is the firefly's ever-drifting spark That throbs its pulse of light out in the dark; And bright the stars, -- but brighter woman's eyes." "Bright morn or even; bright or moon or star, And all the many twinkling lights that are, -- O brighter than ye all are woman's eyes." So Raelus sang. -- And they who rode with him Bewildered were, and even as he sang Went straggling, twos and threes, and fell behind To whisper wonderingly, "Is he a fool?" And "Does he waver in his mind?" and "Does The newness of adventure dazzle him?" So spake they each to each, till far beyond, With but one loathful knight in company, They saw him quit the beaten track, and turn Into the grassy margin of a wood. And loitering, they fell in mocking jest Of their strange leader! "See! why, see!" said one, -- "He needs no help to fight his hornets' nest, But one brave knight to squire him!" -- pointing on To where fared on the two and disappeared. "O ay!" said one, "belike he is some old War-battered knight of long-forgotten age, That, bursting from his chrysalis, the grave, Comes back to show us tricks we never dreamed!" "Or haply," said another, with a laugh, -- "He rides ahead to tell them that he comes And shrive them ere his courage catches up." And merry made they all, and each in turn Filliped a witty pellet at his head: Until, at last, their shadows shrunk away And shortened 'neath them and the hour was noon, They flung them from their horses listlessly Within the grassy margin of the wood Where had passed Raelus an hour agone: And, hungered, spied a rustic; and they sent To have them such refreshment as might be Found at the nearest farm, -- where, as it chanced, Was had most wholesome meat, and milk, and bread; And honey, too, celled in its fretted vase Of gummy gold and dripping nectar-sweet As dreamed-of kisses from the lips of love; Wine, too, was broughten, rosy as the dawn That ushers in the morning of the heart; And tawny, mellow pear, whose golden ore Fell molten on the tongue and oozed away In creamy and delicious nothingness; And netted melon, musky as the breath Of breezes blown from out the Orient; And purple clusterings of plum and grape, Blurred with a dust dissolving at the touch Like flakes the fairies had snowed over them. And as the idlers basked, with toast and song And graceful dalliance and wanton jest, A sound of trampling hooves and jing-ling reins Brake sudden, stilled them; and from out a dim Path leading from the bosky wood there came A troop of mounted damsels, nigh a score, Led by a queenly girl, in crimson clad, With lissome figure lithe and willowy, And face as fair and sweet and pure withal As might a maiden lily-blossom be Ere it has learned the sin of perfect bloom: Her hair, blown backward like a silken scarf And fondled by the sun, was glossier And bluer black than any raven's wing. "And O!" she laughed, not knowing she was heard By any but her fellows: "Men are fools!" Then drawing rein, and wheeling suddenly, Her charger mincing backward, -- "Raelus -- My Raelus is greater than ye all, Since he is such a fool that he forgets He is a man, and lets his tongue of love Run babbling like a silly child's; and, pah! I puff him to the winds like thistledown!" And, wheeling as she spake, found staring up, Wide-eyed and wondering, a group of knights, Half lifted, as their elbows propped their heads, Half lying; and one, smirker than the rest, Stood bowing very low, with upturned eyes Lit with a twinkling smile: "Fair lady -- and Most gracious gentlewomen" -- seeing that The others drew them back as tho' abashed And veiled their faces with all modesty, Tho' she, their leader, showed not any qualm, -- "Since all unwittingly we overheard Your latest speech, and since we know at last 'All men are fools,' right glad indeed am I That such a nest of us remains for you To vanquish with those eyes." Then, serious, That she nor smiled nor winced, nor anything -- "Your pardon will be to me as a shower Of gracious rain unto a panting drouth." So bowed in humblest reverence; at which The damsel, turning to her followers, Laughed musically, -- "See! he proves my words!" Whereat the others joined with inward glee Her pealing mirth; and in the merriment The knights chimed, too, and he, the vanquished one, Till all the wood rang as at hunting-tide When bugle-rumors float about the air And echoes leap and revel in delight. Then spake the vanquished knight, with mental eye Sweeping the vantage-ground that chance had gained, -- "Your further pardon, lady: Since the name Of Raelus fell from those lips of thine, We fain would know of him. He led us here, And as he went the way wherefrom your path Emerges, haply you may tell us where He may be found?" "What! Raelus?" she cried, -- "He comes with you? -- The brave Sir Raelus? -- That mighty champion? -- that gallant knight? -- That peerless wonder of all nobleness? Then proud am I to greet ye, knowing that; And, certes, had I known of it ere now, Then had I proffered you more courtesy And told you, ere the asking, that he bides The coming of his friends a league from this, Hard by a reedy mere, where in high tune We left him singing, nigh an hour agone." Then, as she lightly wheeled her horse about And signal gave to her companions To follow, gaily cried: "Tell Raelus His cousin sends to him her sad farewells And fond regrets, and kisses many as His valorous deeds are numbered in her heart." And with "Fair morrow to ye, gentle knights!" Her steed's hooves struck the highway at a bound; And dimly thro' the dust they saw her lead Her fluttering cavalcade as recklessly As might a queen of Araby, fleet-horsed, Skim o'er the level sands of Syria. So vanished. And the knights with one accord Put foot in stirrup, and, with puzzled minds And many-channeled marvelings, filed in The woody path, and fared them on and on Thro' denser glooms, and ways more intricate; Till, mystified at last and wholly lost, They made full halt, and would have turned them back But that a sudden voice brake on their ears All piteous and wailing, as distressed: And, following these cries, they sharply came Upon an open road that circled round A reedy flat and sodden tract of sedge, Moated with stagnant water, crusted thick With slimy moss, wherein were wriggling things Entangled, and blind bubbles bulging up And bursting where from middle way upshot A tree-trunk, with its knarled and warty hands As tho' upheld to clutch at sliding snakes Or nip the wet wings of the dragonfly. Here gazing, lo! they saw their comrade, he That had gone on with Raelus; and he Was tugging to fling back into its place A heavy log that once had spanned the pool And made a footway to the sedgy flat Whence came the bitter wailing cries they heard. Then hastened they to join him in his task; But, panting, as they asked of Raelus, All winded with his work, yet jollier Than meadow-lark at morn, he sent his voice In such a twittering of merriment, The wail of sorrow died and laughter strewed Its grave with melody. "O Raelus! Rare Raelus!" he cried and clapped his hands, And even in the weeds that edged the pool Fell wrestling with his mirth. -- "Why, Raelus," He said, when he at last could speak again, "Drew magnet-like -- you know that talk of his, -- And so, adhesive, did I cling and cling Until I found us in your far advance, And, hidden in the wood, I stayed to say 'Twas better we should bide your coming. 'No.' Then on again; and still a second time -- 'Shall we not bide their coming?' 'No!' he said; And on again, until the third; and 'No -- We'll push a little further.' As we did; And, sudden, came upon an open glade -- There to the northward, -- by a thicket bound: Then he dismounted, giving me his rein, And, charging me to keep myself concealed, And if he were not back a certain time To ride for you and search where he had gone, He crossed the opening and passed from sight Within the thicket. I was curious: And so, dismounting, tethered our two steeds And followed him; and, creeping warily, Came on him where -- unseen of him -- I saw Him pause before the cave himself described Before us yesternoon. And here he put His fingers to his lips and gave a call Bird-like and quavering: at which a face, As radiant as summer sun at morn, Parted the viny curtains of the cave; And then, a moment later, came in view A woman even fairer than my sight Might understand. 'What! dare you come again?' As, lifting up her eyes all flashingly, She scorched him with a look of hate. -- 'Begone! Or have you -- traitor, villain, knave, and cur, -- Bro't minions of the law to carry out The vengeance of your whimpering jealousy?' Then Raelus, all cowering before Her queenly anger, faltered: 'Hear me yet; I do not threaten. But your love -- your love! -- O give me that. I know you pure as dew: Your love! Your love! -- The smile that has gone out And left my soul a midnight of despair! -- Your love or life! For I have even now Your stronghold girt about with certain doom If you but waver in your choice. -- Your love!' At which, as quick as tho't, leapt on him there A strong man from the covert of the gloom; And others, like to him, from here and there Came skurrying. I, turning, would have fled, But found myself as suddenly beset And tied and tumbled there with Raelus. And him they haltered by his squirming heels Until he did confess such villainy As made me wonder if his wits were sound -- Confessed himself a renegade -- a thief -- Ay, even one of them, save that he knew Not that nice honor even thieves may claim Among themselves. -- And so ran on thro' such A catalogue of littlenesses, I For deafest shame had even stopped my ears But that my wrists were lockt. And when he came To his confession of his lie at court, By which was gained our knightly sympathy And valiant service on this fools' crusade, I seemed to feel the redness of my blush Soak thro' my very soul. There I brake in: 'Fair lady and most gallant, -- to my shame Do I admit we have been duped by such An ingrate as this bundled lump of flesh That I am helpless to rise up and spurn: Unbind me, and I promise such amends As knightly hands may deign to wreak upon A thing so vile as he.' Then, laughing, she: 'First tell me, by your honor, where await Your knightly brothers and my enemies.' To which I answered, truthfully, I knew Not where you lingered, but not close at hand I was assured. Then all abrupt, she turned: 'Get every one within! We ride at once!' And scarce a dozen minutes ere they came Outpouring from the cave in such a guise As made me smile from very wonderment. -- From head to heel in woman's dress they came, Clad richly, too, and trapped and tricked withal As maidenly, but in the face and hand, As ever damsels flock at holiday. Then were their chargers bro't, caparisoned In keeping; and they mounted, lifting us, Still bounden, with much jest and mockery Of soft caress and wanton blandishments, As tho' they were of sex their dress declared. And so they carried us until they came Upon the road there as it nicks the copse; And so drew rein, dismounted, leaving some To guard their horses; hurried us across This footway to the middle of the flat. Here Raelus was bounden to a tree, Stript to the waist; my fetters cut, and then A long, keen switch put in my hand, and 'Strike! Strike as all duty bids you!' said the queen. And so I did, with right good will at first; Till, softened as I heard the wretch's prayers Of anguish, I at last withheld my hand. 'What! tiring?' chirpt the queen: 'Give me the stick!' And swish, and swish, and mercy how it rained! Then all the others, forming circlewise, Danced round and round the howling wretch, and jeered And japed at him, and mocked and scoffed at him, And spat upon him. And I turned away And hid my face; then raised it pleadingly: Nor would they listen my appeal for him; But left him so, and thonged and took me back Across the mere, and drew the bridge, that none Might go to him, and carried me with them Far on their way, and freed me once again; And back I turned, tho' loath, to succor him." And even as he ceased they heard the wail Break out anew, and crossed without a word, And Raelus they found, and without word They loosed him. And he brake away and ran As runs a lie the truth is hard upon. Thus did it fare with Raelus. And they Who knew of it said naught at court of it, Nor from that day spake ever of him once, Nor heard of him again, nor cared to hear. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE APOLLO TRIO by CONRAD AIKEN BAD GIRL SINGING by MARK JARMAN CHAMBER MUSIC: 4 by JAMES JOYCE CHAMBER MUSIC: 5 by JAMES JOYCE CHAMBER MUSIC: 28 by JAMES JOYCE THE SONG OF THE NIGHTINGALE IS LIKE THE SCENT OF SYRINGA by MINA LOY A BOY'S MOTHER by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY |
|