[Page 65]

THE PILGRIM.

1 Slow o'er the Apennine, with bleeding feet,
2 A patient Pilgrim wound his lonely way,
3 To deck the Lady of Loretto's seat
4 With all the little wealth his zeal could pay.
5 From mountain-tops cold died the ev'ning ray,
6 And, stretch'd in twilight, slept the vale below;
7 And now the last, last purple streaks of day
8 Along the melancholy West fade slow.
9 High o'er his head, the restless pines complain,
10 As on their summit rolls the breeze of night;
11 Beneath, the hoarse stream chides the rocks in vain:
12 The Pilgrim pauses on the dizzy height.
13 Then to the vale his cautious step he prest,
14 For there a hermit's cross was dimly seen,
15 Cresting the rock, and there his limbs might rest,
16 Cheer'd in the good man's cave, by faggot's sheen,
[Page 66]
17 On leafy beds, nor guile his sleep molest.
18 Unhappy Luke! he trusts a treacherous clue!
19 Behind the cliff the lurking robber stood;
20 No friendly moon his giant shadow threw
21 Athwart the road, to save the Pilgrim's blood;
22 On as he went a vesper-hymn he sang,
23 The hymn, that nightly sooth'd him to repose.
24 Fierce on his harmless prey the ruffian sprang!
25 The Pilgrim bleeds to death, his eye-lids close,
26 Yet his meek spirit knew no vengeful care,
27 But, dying, for his murd'rer breath'd — a sainted pray'r!

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About this text

Title (in Source Edition): THE PILGRIM.
Author: Ann Radcliffe (née Ward)
Themes:
Genres: narrative verse

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Source edition

Radcliffe, Ann Ward, 1764-1823. The Poems of Mrs. Ann Radcliffe. London: printed by and for J. Smith, Princes Street, 1816, pp. 65-66. 118p. [Radcliffe's poems only, pp. 1-95] (Page images digitized from a copy held at the National Library of the Netherlands.)

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