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German Witches, hearing of the Indulgences by Leo X. (3)
#1
GERMAN WITCHES,
HEARING OF THE INDULGENCES GRANTED BY LEO X.

I

Far flies the raven over the German land;
Over brown heaths and castles goeth he,
Perching on tower and city linden-tree,
He hath the earth and air at his command.

What saith the maiden with the jewelled hand,
From her bright lattice, raven dark, to thee,
Noble, and knight, and burgher round and free,
That thou before his gate so long dost stand ?

'Tis a wild saying, like the wind's; but eve
Comes on apace; and earth-o'erscattered fires
Shine out, with light and darkness strangely blending :

There is one spot that thou art loath to leave,
Where green-worn steps, by a cathedral's spires,
Two croaking withered beldams are descending.

II.

On a saith to the other, wrinkling up her eye,
" Hast thou no sins, old gossip Ursula ?"
And she respondeth with a hoarse " Ha, ha,
Well, we were young, but now those days are by;"
She twirls her distaff with a muttering sigh,
And strives to pass; the other still doth bar
The wayside—" It were well to balk the star
Thou know^st of," whispers she, " once ere we die :
Aye, marry, these are comfortable times,
Tis a good church to balk his spite, that there
Would whirl us but in mockery, like the snow—"
Then, as a rat that some old witch berhymes,
She who doth listen, at the Prince of air
Muttering, goes on, with feeble steps and slow.


III.

She mutters ; loud and long for many a day
Hath one been crying ; and at eve it went
Still through the silence—" Come, repent, repent;"
But not like John the Baptist's was the way.
Albrecht of Mayence hath his pall to pay*;
Ten thousand florins must to Rome be sent;
Thrice ten; 'tis therefore do they cry " repent;"
And against sins gold in the balance weigh.
The while, beneath Bolsena's shady boughs,
Spurs the great father f of the Church, and swears
This brach or that is keenest at the game;
And crowns at eve some ribald's stupid brows*
With laurel wreath, and of a patron wears
With jovial pride the Medicean name.
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