Poems - Pied Piper of Hamlin, King Porus and Horatius

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TTTHHHEEE PPPIIIEEEDDD PPPIIIPPPEEERRR OOOFFF HHHAAAMMMEEELLLIIINNN

III

Hamelin Town’s in Brunswick,By famous Hanover City;

The river Weser, deep and wideWashes its wall on the southern side;

A pleasanter spot your never spied;But when begins my ditty,

Almost five hundred years ago,To see the townsfolk suffer so

From vermin, was a pity

II

Rats!They fought the dogs and killed the cats,

And bit the babies in the cradles,And ate the cheeses out of the vats,

And licked the soup from the cooks’ own ladles,Split open the kegs of salted sprats,Made nests inside men’s Sunday hats,And even spoiled the women’s chats

By drowning their speakingWith shrieking and squeaking

In fifty different sharps and flats.

III

At last the people in a bodyTo the Town Hall came flocking;

‘’Tis clear,’ cried they, ‘our Mayor’s a noddy;And as for our Corporation – shocking

To think we buy gowns lined with ermineFor dolts that can’t or won’t determineWhat’s best to rid us of our vermin!You hope, because you’re old and obese,To find in the furry civic robe ease?Rouse up, Sirs! Give your brains a rackingTo find the remedy we’re lackingOr, sure as fate, we’ll send you packing!’At this the Mayor and CorporationQuaked with a mighty consternation

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IV

An hour they sat in council,At length the Mayor broke silence:

‘For a guilder I’d my ermine gown sell;I wish I were a mile hence!

It’s easy to bid one rack one’s brain—I’m sure my poor head aches again,I’ve scratched it so, and all in vain,O for a trap, a trap, a trap!’Just as he said this, what should hapAt the chamber door, but a gentle tap?‘Bless us!’ Cried the Mayor, ’What’s that?’(With the Corporation as he sat,Looking little though wondrous fat;Nor brighter was his eye, nor moisterThan a too—long—opened oyster,Save when at noon his paunch grew mutinousFor a plate of turtle green and glutinous)‘Only a scraping of shoes on the mat?Anything like the sound of a ratMakes my heart go pit—a—pat !’

V

‘Come in!’ – the Mayor cried, looking bigger;And in did come the strangest figure!His queer long coat from heal to headWas half of yellow and half of red,And he himself was tall and thin,With sharp blue eyes, each like a pin,And light loose hair, yet swarthy skin,No tuft on check nor beard on chin,But lips where smiles went out and in;There was no guessing his kith and kin;And nobody could enough admireThe tall man and his quaint attireQuoth one: ‘It’s as my great – grandsire,Starting up at the Tramp of Doom’s tone,Had walked this way from his painted tomb – stone!’

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VI

He advanced to the council-table;And, ’Please your honours, ’said he, ‘ I’m able,By means of a secret charm, to draw

All creatures living beneath the sun,That creep or swim or fly or run,

After me so as your never saw!And I chiefly use my charmOn creatures that do people harm,The mole and toad and newt and viper;And people call me the Pied Piper.’(And here they noticed round his neck

A scarf of red and yellow stripe,To match with his coat of the self-same cheque;

And at the scarf’s end hung a pipe;And his fingers, they noticed, were ever strayingAs if impatient to be playingUpon his pipe, as low it dangledOver his vesture so old-fangled.)‘Yet,’ said he, ’poor piper as I am,In Tartary I free the Cham,

Last June, from his huge swarms of gnats;I eased in Asia the Nizam

Of monstrous brood of vampyre-bats:And as for what your brain bewilders,

If I can rid your town of ratsWill you give me a thousand guilders?’‘One?’ fifty thousand!’ – was the exclamationOf the astonished Mayor and Corporation.

VII

Into the streets the Piper stept,Smiling first a little smile,

As if he knew what magic sleptIn his quiet pipe the while;

Then, like a musical adept,To blow the pipe his lips he wrinkled,And green and blue his sharp eyes twinkled,Like a candle-flame where salt is sprinkled;And ere three shrill notes the pipe uttered,You heard as if an army muttered;And the muttering grew to a grumbling;And the grumbling grew to a mighty rumbling;And out of the houses the rats came tumbling.

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Great rats, small rats, lean rats, brawny rats,Brown rats, black rats, grey rats, tawny rats,Grave old plodders, gay young friskers,

Fathers, mothers, uncles, cousins,Cocking tails and pricking whiskers,

Families by tens and dozens,Brothers, sisters, husbands, wives –Followed the Piper for their lives.From street to street he piped advancing,And step for step they followed dancing,Until they came to the River Weser,

Wherein all plunged and perished!-- Save one who, stout as Julius Caesar,Swam across and lived to carry

(As he, the manuscript he cherished)To Rat-land home his commentary:Which was, ’As the first shrill notes of the pipe,I heard a sound as of scraping tripeAnd putting apples, wondrous ripe,Into a cider – press’s gripe:And a moving away of pickle – tub—boards,And a leaving ajar of conserve—cupboards,And a breaking the hoops of butter—casks:And it seemed as if a voice

(Sweeter far than by harp or by psalteryIs breathed) Called out, “Oh, rats, rejoice!

The world is grown to one vast drysaltery!So munch on, crunch on, take your nuncheon,Breakfast, supper, dinner, luncheon!”And just as a bulky sugar-puncheon,All ready staved, like a great sun shoneGlorious scarce an inch before me,Jut as methought it said, “ Come, bore me!”--I found the weser rolling o’er me.’

VIII

You should have heard the Hamelin peopleRinging the bells till they rocked the steeple.‘Go,’ cried the Mayor,’ and get long poles,Poke out the nests, and block up the holes!Consult with carpenters and builders,And leave in our town not even a traceOf the rats!’ – when, suddenly, up the faceof the Piper perked in the market-place,With a, ‘First; if you please, my thousand guilders!’

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IX

A thousand guilders! The Mayor looked blue;So did the Corporation too.For council dinners made rare havocWith Claret, Moselle, Vin-de-Grave, Hock;And half the money would replenishTheir cellar’s biggest butt with Rhenish.To pay this sum to a wandering fellowWith a gipsy coat of red and yellow!‘Beside,’ quoth the Mayor, with a knowing wink,‘Our business was done at the river’s brink;We saw with our eyes the vermin sink,And what’s dead can’t come to life, I think.So, friend, we’re not the folks to shrinkFrom the duty of giving you something for drink,And a matter of money to put in your poke;But as for the guilders, what we spokeOf them, as you very well know, was in joke.Beside, out losses have made us thrifty,A thousand guilders! Come, take fifty!’

X

The Piper’s face fell and he cried‘No trifling! I can’t wait, beside!I’ve promised to visit by dinner-timeBagdat, and accept the primeOf the Head—Cook’s potage, all he’s rich in,For having left, in Caliph’s kitchen,Of a nest of scorpions no survivor:With him I proved no bargain—driver,With you, don’t think I’ll bate a stiver!And folks who put me in a passionMay find me pipe after another fashion.’

XI

‘How?’ cried the Mayor, ‘d’ye think I brookBeing worse treated than a Cook?Insulted by a lazy ribaldWith idle pipe and vesture piebald?You threaten us fellow? Do your worst,Blow your pipe there till you burst!’

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XII

Once more he stept into the streetAnd to his lips againLaid his long pipe of smooth straight cane;

And ere he blew three notes (each sweetSoft notes as yet musician’s cunning

Never gave the enraptured air)There was a rustling that seemed like a bustling,Of merry crowds justling at pitching and hustling,Small feet were pattering, wooden shoes clattering,Little hands clapping and little tongues chattering,And, like fowls in the farmyard when barley is scattering,Out came the children running.All the little boys and girls,With rosy cheeks and flaxen curls,And sparkling eyes and teeth like pearls,Tripping and skipping, ran merrily afterThe wonderful music with shouting and laughter.

XIII

The Mayor was dumb, and the council stoodAs if they were changed into blocks of wood,Unable to move a step, or cryTo the children merrily skipping by,--Could only follow with the eyeThat joyous crowd at the Piper’s back.But now the Mayor was on the rack,And the wretched Council’s bosoms beat,As the Piper turned from the High StreetTo where the Weser rolled its watersRight in the way of their sons and daughters!However, he turned from South to West,And to Koppelberg hill his steps addressed,And after him the children pressed;Great was the joy in every breast.‘He never can cross that mighty top!He’s forced to let the piping drop,And we shall see our children stop!’When, lo, as they reached the mountain-side,A wondrous portal opened wide,As if a cavern was suddenly hollowed;And the Piper advanced and the children followed,And when all were in to the very last,The door in the mountain-side shut fast.

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Did I say all? No! One was lame,And could not dance the whole of the way;

And in after years, if you would blameHis sadness, he was used to say, --

‘It’s dull in out town since my playmates left!I can’t forget that I’m bereftOf all the pleasant sights they see,Which the Piper also promised meFor he led us, he said, to a joyous land,Joining the town and just at hand,Where waters gushed and fruit-trees grewAnd flowers put forth a fairer blue,And everything was strange and new,The sparrows were brighter than peacocks here,And their dogs outran our fallow deer,And honey-bees had lost their stings,And horses were born with eagles’ wings:And just as I became assuredMy lame foot would be speedily cured,The music stopped and I stood still,And found myself outside the hill,Left alone against my will,To go now limping as before,And never hear of that country more!

XIV

Also, alas for Hamelin!There came into many burgher’s pateA text which says that heaven’s gateOpens to the rich at as easy rate

As the needle’s eye takes a camel in!The Mayor sent East, West, North and South,To offer the Piper, by word of mouth,

Whatever it was men’s lot to find him,Silver and gold to his heart’s content,If he’d only return the way he went,

And bring the children behind him,But when they saw ‘twas a lost endeavour,And Piper and dancers were gone for ever,They made a decree that lawyers never

Should think their records dated dulyIf, after the day of the month and the year,These words did not as well appear,‘And so long after what happened here

On the Twenty-second of July,

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Thirteen hundred and seventy-six;’And the better in memory to fixThe place of the children’s last retreat,They called it ‘The Pied Piper’s Street’—,Where any one playing on pipe or taborWas sure for the future to lose his labourNor suffered they hostelry or tavern

To shock with mirth a street so solemn;But opposite the place of the cavern

They wrote the story on a columnAnd on the great church-window paintedThe same, to make the world acquaintedHow their children were stolen away,And there it stands to this very day.And I must not omit to sayThat in Transylvania there’s a tribeOf alien people who ascribeThe outlandish ways and dressOn which their neighbours lay such stress,To their fathers and mothers having risenOut of some subterraneous prisonInto which they were trepannedLong time ago in a mighty bandOut of Hamelin town in Brunswick land,But how or why, they don’t understand.

--Robert Browning.

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KING PORUS – A LEGEND OF OLD

We never shall look upon his like again!SHAKESPEARE

When shall such a hero live again?BYRON

I

Loudly the midnight tempest sang,Ah! It was thy dirge, fair Liberty!And clouds in thundering accents roar’dUnheeded warning from on high;The rain in darksome torrents fell,Hydaspes’ waves did onward sweep,Like fiery Passion’s headlong flow,To meet th’ awaken’d calling deep;The lightning flashed bright – dazzling, likeFair woman’s glance from ‘neath her veil;And on the heaving, troubled air,There was a moaning sound of wail!But, Ind! thy unsuspecting sonsDid heedless slumber, -- while the foeCame in stealthy step of death,--Came as the tiger, noiseless, slow,To close at once its victim’s breath!Alas! They knew not ‘midst this gloom,This war of elements, was nurst, --Like to an earthquake in the wombOf a volcano, -- deep and low –A deadlier storm – on them to burst!

II

‘Twas morn; the Lord of DayFrom gold Sumero’s place bright,Look’d on his own sweet clime,But, lo! the glorious flag,To which the world in awe once bow’d,There in defiance wavedOn India’s gales—triumphant—proud!—Then, rose the dreadful yell,—Then lion-like, each warrior braveRushed on the coming foe,To strike for freedom—or the grave!

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Oh Death! Upon thy gory altarWhat blood-libations freely flow’d!Oh Earth! On that bright morn, what thousandsRendered to thee the dust they ow’d!But ‘fore the Macedonians driven,Fell India’s hardy sons,—Proud mountain oaks by thunders riven,—That for their country’s freedom bled—And made on gore their glorious bed!

III

But dauntlessly there stoodKing Porus, towering ‘midst the foe,Like a Himala-peak,With its eternal crown of snow:And on his brow did shineThe jewell’d regal diadem.His milk-white elephantWas deck’d with many a brilliant gem.He reck’d not of the phalanxThe ‘round him closed—but nobly fought.And like the angry winds that blowAnd lofty mountain pines lay low,Amidst them dreadful havoc wroughtAnd thinn’d his crown and country’s foe!The hardest warriors, at his deeds,Awe-struck quail’d like wind shaken reeds:They dared not look upon his face,They shrank before his burning gaze,For in his eye the hero shoneThat feared not death;--but high—alone—A being as if of lightning made,That scorch’d al that is gazed upon—Trampling the living with the dead.

IV

Th’ immortal Thund’rer’s son,Astonish’d eyed heroic king;He saw him bravely chargeLike his dread father,--fulmining:Tho’ thousands ‘round him closed,He stood—as stands the ocean rockAmidst the lashing billowsUnmoved at their fierce thundering shock.

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But when th’ Emathian conquerorSaw that with gaping wounds he bled,‘Desist—desist!’—he cried—‘Such noble blood should not be shed!’Then a herald was sentWhere bleeding and faint,Stood, ‘midst the dying and the dead,King Porus,—boldly, undismayed:‘Hail, brave and warlike prince!Thy generous rival bids thee cease—Behold! There flies the flag,That lulls dread war, and wakens peace!’

V

Like to a lion chain’dThat tho’ faint—bleeding—stands in pride—With eyes, where unsubduedYet flash’d the fire—looks that defied;King Porus boldly wentWhere ‘midst the gay and flittering crowdSat god –like Alexander;While ‘around, Earth’s mightiest monarchs bow’d.King Porus was no slave;He stooped not—bent not there his knee,—But stood, as stands an oak,In Himalayan majesty.‘How should I treat thee?’ ask’dThe mighty king of Macedon:‘Ev’n as a King,’ repliedIn royal pride, Ind’s haughty son.The conqu’ror pleas’d,Him forth releas’dThus India’s crown was lost and won.

VI

But where, oh! Where is Porus now?And where the noble hearts that bledFor freedom—with the heroic glowIn patriot bosoms nourished—--Hearts, eagle-like that recked not death,But shrank before foul Thraldom’s breath?And where art thou—fair Freedom!—thouOnce goodness of Ind’s sunny clime!When glory’s halo round her brow

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Shone radiant, and she rose sublime,Like her own towering HimalyeTo kiss the blue clouds thron’d on high!Clime of the sun!—how like Dream—How like bright sun-beams on a streamThat melt beneath gray twilight’s eye—That glory hath now fitted by!The crown that once did deck thy browIs trampled down—and thou sunk low;Thy pearl, thy diamond and thy mineOf glistening gold no more is thine.Alas!—each conquering tyrant’s lustHas robb’d thee of thy very dust!Thou standest like a lofty treeShorn of fruits—blossoms—leaves and all—Of every gale the sport to be,Despised and scorned e’en in thy fall?

--Michael Madhusudan Dutt

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HHHOOORRRAAATTTIIIUUUSSS

But the consul’s brow was sad,And the Consul’s speech was low,

And darkly looked he at the wall,And darkly at the foe.

‘Their van will be upon usBefore the bridge goes down;

And if they once may win the bridge,What hope to save the town?

Then out spake brave Horatius,The Captain of the Gate:

‘To every man upon this earthDeath cometh soon or late,

And how can man die betterThan facing fearful odds,

For the ashes of his fathers,And the temples of his Gods,

‘And for the tender motherWho for dandled him to rest,

And for the wife who nursesHis baby at her breast,

And for the holy maidensWho feed the eternal flame,

To save them from false SextusThat wrought the deed of shame?

‘Hew down the bridge, Sir Consul,With all the speed ye may;

I, with two more to help me,Will hold the foe in play.

In yon strait path a thousandMay well be stopped by three.

Now who will stand on either hand,And keep the bridge with me?’

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Then out spake Spurius Lartius;A Ramnian proud as he;

‘Lo, I will stand at thy right hand,And keep the bridge with thee,’

And out spake strong Herminius;Of Titian blood was he:

‘I will abide on thy left side,And keep the bridge with thee,’

‘Horatius,’ quoth the Consul,‘As thou sayest, so let it be’

And straight against that great arrayForth went the dauntless Three.

For Romans in Rome’s quarrelSpared neither land nor gold,

Nor son nor wife, nor limb nor life,In the brave days of old.

Meanwhile the Tuscan army,Right glorious to behold,

Came flashing back the noonday light,Rank behind rank, like surges bright

Of a broad sea of gold.Four hundred trumpets sounded

A peal of warlike glee,As that great host, with measured tread,And spears advanced, and ensigns spread,Rolled slowly towards the bridge’s head,

Where stood the dauntless Three.

The Three stood calm and silent,And looked upon the foes,

And a great shout of laughterFrom all the vanguard rose:

And forth three chiefs came spurringBefore that deep array;

To earth they sprang, their swords they drew,And lifted high their shields, and flew

To win the narrow way;

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Then Ocnus of FaleriiRushed on the Roman Three;

And Lausulus of Urgo,The rover of the sea;

And Aruns of Volsinium,Who slew the great wild boar,

The great wild boar that had his denAmidst the reeds of Cosa’s fen,And wasted fields, and slaughtered men.

Along Albinia’s shore.

Herminius smote down Aruns;Lartius laid Ocnus low:

Right to the heart of LausulusHoratius sent a blow.

‘Lie there,’ he cried, ’fell pirate!No more aghast and pale,

From Ostia’s walls the crowd shall markThe track of thy destroying bark.No more Campania’s hinds shall flyTo woods and caverns when they spy

Thy thrice accursed sail.’

But now no sound of laughterWas heard among the foes.

A wild and wrathful clamourFrom all the vanguard rose,

Six spears’ lengths from the entranceHalted that deep array.

And for a space no man came forthTo win the narrow way.

But all Etruria’s noblestFelt their hearts sink to see

On the earth the bloody corpses,In the path the dauntless Three;

And from the ghastly entranceWhere those bold Romans stood,

All shrank, like boys who unaware,Ranging the woods to start a hare,Come to the mouth of a dark lairWhere, growling low, a fierce old bear

Lies amidst bones and blood.

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Yet one man for one momentStrode out before the crowd;

Well known was he to all the Three,And they gave him greeting loud.

‘Now welcome, welcome, Sextus!Now welcome to thy home!

Why dost thou stay, and turn away?Here lies the road to Rome.’

Thrice looked he at the city;Thrice looked he at the dead;

And thrice came on in fury,And thrice turned back in dread:

And, white with fear and hatred,Scowled at the narrow way

Where wallowing in a pool of blood,The bravest Tuscans lay.

But meanwhile axe and leverHave manfully been plied;And now the bridge hangs tottering

Above the boiling tide.‘Come back, come back, Horatius!’

Loud cried the Fathers all.‘Back, Lartius! Back, Herminius!’

Back, ere the ruin fall!’

Back darted Spurius Lartius;Herminius darted back;

And, as they passed, beneath their feetThey felt the timbers crack.

But when they turned their faces,And on the farther shore

Saw brave Horatius stand alone,They would have crossed once more.

But with crash like thunderFell every loosened beam,

And, like a dam, the mighty wreckLay right athwart the stream:

And a long shout of triumphRose from the walls of Rome,

As to the highest turret-topsWas splashed the yellow foam.

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Alone stood brave Horatius,But constant still in mind;

Thrice thirty thousand foes before,And broad flood behind.

‘Down with him!’ cried false Sextus,With a smile on his pale face.

‘Now yield thee,’ cried Lars Porsena,‘Now yield thee to our grace.’

Round turned he, as not deigningThose cavern ranks to see;

Nought spake he to Lars Porsena,To Sextus nought spake he;

But he saw on PalatinusThe white porch of his home;

And he spake to the noble riverThat rolls by the towers of Rome.

‘Oh, Tiber! Father Tiber!To whom the Romans pray,

A Roman’s life, a Roman’s arms,Take thou in charge this day!’

So he spake, and speaking sheathedThe good sword by his side,

And with his harness on his back,Plunged headlong in the tide.

No sound of joy or sorrowWas heard from either bank;

But friends and foes in dumb surprise,With parted lips and straining eyes,

Stood gazing where he sank;And when above the surges

They saw his crest appear,All Rome sent forth a rapturous cry,And even the ranks of TuscanyCould scarce forbear to cheer.

But fiercely ran the current,Swollen high by months of rain:

And fast his blood was flowing;And he was sore in pain,

And heavy with his armour,And spent with changing blows:

And oft they thought him sinking,But still again he rose.

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Never, I ween, did swimmer,In such an evil case,

Struggle through such a raging floodSafe to the landing place:

But his limbs were borne up bravelyBy the brave heart within,

And our good father TiberBare bravely up his chin.

‘Curse on him!’ quoth false Sextus;‘Will not the villain drown?

But for this stay, ere close of dayWe should have sacked the town!’

‘Heaven help him!’ quoth Lars Porsena,‘And bring him safe to shore;

For such a gallant feat of armsWas never seen before.’

And now he feels the bottom:Now on dry earth he stands;

Now round him throng the FathersTo press his gory hands;

And now, with shouts and clapping,And noise of weeping loud,

He enters through the River-Gate,Borne by the joyous crowd.

They gave him of the corn-land,That was of public right,

As much as two strong oxenCould plough from morn till night;

And they made a molten image,And set it up on high,

And there it stands unto this dayTo witness if I lie.

--Lord Macaulay.

Poems - Pied Piper of Hamlin, King Porus and Horatius

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