Ban and Arriere Ban

The Haunted Tower

[Suggested by a poem of Theophile Gautier]

In front he saw the donjon tall

Deep in the woods, and stayed to scan

The guards that slept along the wall,

Or dozed upon the bartizan.

He marked the drowsy flag that hung

Unwaved by wind, unfrayed by shower,

He listened to the birds that sung

Go forth and win the haunted tower!

The tangled brake made way for him,

The twisted brambles bent aside;

And lo, he pierced the forest dim,

And lo, he won the fairy bride!

For HE was young, but ah! we find,

All we, whose beards are flecked with grey,

Our fairy castle's far behind,

We watch it from the darkling way:

'Twas ours, that palace, in our youth,

We revelled there in happy cheer:

Who scarce dare visit now in sooth,

Le Vieux Chateau de Souvenir!

For not the boughs of forest green

Begird that castle far away,

There is a mist where we have been

That weeps about it, cold and grey.

And if we seek to travel back

'Tis through a thicket dim and sere,

With many a grave beside the track,

And many a haunting form of fear.

Dead leaves are wet among the moss,

With weed and thistle overgrown -

A ruined barge within the fosse,

A castle built of crumbling stone!

The drawbridge drops from rusty chains,

There comes no challenge from the hold;

No squire, nor dame, nor knight remains,

Of all who dwelt with us of old.

And there is silence in the hall

No sound of songs, no ray of fire;

But gloom where all was glad, and all

Is darkened with a vain desire.

And every picture's fading fast,

Of fair Jehanne, or Cydalise.

Lo, the white shadows hurrying past,

Below the boughs of dripping trees!