Classic Poem

SCENE II. — Before the Gate of Bristol .

Lord W OLD and H ASTINGS , meeting .

H AST . So then the kingdom's Henry's?
W OLD . All save Wold
Wearing out siege, repelling all assaults,
Blowing defiance from her battlements,
My mother still holds out: Wizards, nor Thunder,
Nor Bloody Aspects in the House of Life,
Have power to shake her: even unto the death
She'll hold it out, so great is she of heart.
H AST . Dunley?
W OLD. Not caught. How he escaped us here
When we took Bristol, by what postern hole,
In what disguise, I know not. Pausing ne'er
To draw my breath in the city we had won,
Out after him I rode. I've hunted him
Far and wide over Wales. I've missed him still
He's to some den forlorn, I know not where.
There let him lurk and live — I mean, the while:
I'll find him yet. If not, this at least know we,
He'll plague the land no more.
H AST. What's our next move?
W OLD. Our troops are camped outside the city walls,
And there we rest the night. At morn I take
The Lady Mervyn home — on my own way
To Wold, to strike it down; so runs the vow
That I have vowed. Were but my mother saved,
Were she but safe, down then I lay my arms,
For I am sick of blood, and wed in peace
My virgin wife. Come, let us see our camp.