Glory to God in the
Highest!
Tennyson
His oath was broken--O holy Norman Saints,
Ye that are now of heaven, and see beyond
Your Norman shrines, pardon it, pardon it,
That he forsware himself for all he loved,
Me, me and all! Look out upon the battle!
STIGAND. They thunder again upon the barricades.
My sight is eagle, but the strife so thick--
This is the hottest of it: hold, ash! hold, willow!
ENGLISH CRIES. Out, out!
NORMAN CRIES. Ha Rou!
STIGAND. Ha! Gurth hath leapt upon him
And slain him: he hath fallen.
EDITH. And I am heard.
Glory to God in the Highest! fallen, fallen!
STIGAND. No, no, his horse--he mounts another--wields
His war-club, dashes it on Gurth, and Gurth,
Our noble Gurth, is down!
EDITH. Have mercy on us!
STIGAND. And Leofwin is down!
EDITH. Have mercy on us!
O Thou that knowest, let not my strong prayer
Be weaken'd in thy sight, because I love
The husband of another!
NORMAN CRIES. Ha Rou! Ha Rou!
EDITH. I do not hear our English war-cry.
Ye that are now of heaven, and see beyond
Your Norman shrines, pardon it, pardon it,
That he forsware himself for all he loved,
Me, me and all! Look out upon the battle!
STIGAND. They thunder again upon the barricades.
My sight is eagle, but the strife so thick--
This is the hottest of it: hold, ash! hold, willow!
ENGLISH CRIES. Out, out!
NORMAN CRIES. Ha Rou!
STIGAND. Ha! Gurth hath leapt upon him
And slain him: he hath fallen.
EDITH. And I am heard.
Glory to God in the Highest! fallen, fallen!
STIGAND. No, no, his horse--he mounts another--wields
His war-club, dashes it on Gurth, and Gurth,
Our noble Gurth, is down!
EDITH. Have mercy on us!
STIGAND. And Leofwin is down!
EDITH. Have mercy on us!
O Thou that knowest, let not my strong prayer
Be weaken'd in thy sight, because I love
The husband of another!
NORMAN CRIES. Ha Rou! Ha Rou!
EDITH. I do not hear our English war-cry.
