It was quite dark within the room Wherein the Lady Alice sat; One had not seen, who looked thereat, The gathered dust upon her loom,
There was such gloom. And though the hangings on the wall Were wrought so well and cunningly That many had come far to see
Their glory once ( for they were all Of cardinal, And gold, and silk, and curious glass ) The ladies with the long red hair
Thereon, the strong men fighting there, The little river edged with grass,— Were now, alas, As if they had been always gray.
Likewise the lily, whose perfume Had once been over all the room, In which dark corner now it lay,— What man might say?
She did not see these things, or know That they had changed since she had seen. She liked it best to sit between Two little firs ( they used to grow,
Once, long ago! ) That stood each in an earthen pot Upon the window's either side. They had been green before they died,
But like the rest fell out their lot,— To be forgot. Yet what cared she for such as these, Whose window was toward the sun
At sun-rising? There was not one Of them so strong and sure to please, Or bring her ease, As what she saw when she looked through
Her window just before the dawn. These were the sights she gazed upon: Sir John, whose silken pennon flew, Yellow and blue,
And proud to be upon his lance; The horse he rode being gray and white; A few men, unafraid to fight, Followed ( there were some men in France
Were brave, perchance! ) And they were armed with swords and spears; Their horses, too, were mostly gray. — They seemed not sad to go away,
For they were men had lost their fears With their child-years. They had such hope, there was but one Looked back: Sir John had strength to look.
His men saw not that his lance shook A little, for though night was done, There was no sun. And so they rode into the dawn
That waited just behind the hill; ( In France there were some men to kill! ) These were the things she looked upon Till they were gone.
The room was dark, and full of fear; And so the Lady Alice stayed Beside the window. Here she prayed Each morning, and when night drew near,
Year after year. Beside her lay some unused things: A trumpet that had long been mute; A vellum book; a little lute
That once had ten unrusted strings; And four gold rings; A piece of faded cloth-of-gold; And three black pennies that were white
As silver once:— the great delight She had of all these things of old Was now quite cold. Only the things that she could see
Out of the window gladdened her; After the morning, those things were A ship that rode triumphantly ( This sight would be
Plainest a little ere the noon ) On wide blue waters, with the wind Strong from the west that lay behind; Its sail curved like a slender moon,
Born into June. An empty ship beside the shore Of some unconquered foreign land; Some brave men fighting on the sand
As they had never fought before In any war; A few men fleeing to the hills ( This came a little after noon ),
God, but the fight was ended soon! They were not hard to wound and kill! A trumpet shrill Echoes, and many knights pursue!
And on the hillside dead men lie, Who learned before they came to die The yellow flags the victors flew Were crossed with blue!
No wonder that this window-place Could make the Lady Alice glad, When sights like these were what she had! Yet there was one that made her face
For a little space Grow like a face that God has known. I think she was the happiest When the sun dropped into the west;
This was the thing she then was shown, And this alone: A laden ship that followed fast The way the setting sun had led;
In the east wind her great sail spread; A brave knight standing near the mast; The shore at last! Of all things, this the best did seem.
And now the gathering darkness fell; The morn would bring him, she knew well; She slept; and in her sleep, I deem, She had one dream.
Against the window-side she slept. This window-place was very strange; Since it was made it had known change. Beneath it once no women wept,
And no vines crept And twisted in the broken glass. Some time ago, the little tree That she had planted tenderly
Was not much higher than tall grass; But now, alas, Its branches were the greatest where Her window looked toward the sun.
One branch, indeed, its way had won Into her room,— it did not bear Green leaves in here. Above the window, and inside,
Great spider-webs were spun across. Where stone was, there was wet green moss Wherein small creeping things did hide Until they died.
The leaves that looked toward the room Were hardly anything but veins; They had been wasted by the rains, Like some dead naked girl in the gloom
Of some old tomb. But those outside were broad and green, And lived between the sun and shade. A perfect bower they had made,—
Beneath them there should sit some queen, Born to be seen! It was quite dark within the place Wherein the Lady Alice slept.
I heard the girls below who wept, But God did not ( of His good grace ) Show me her face.
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