XI.

He turned within his solitary hall,

And his high shadow shot along the wall:

There were the painted forms of other times,[273]

'Twas all they left of virtues or of crimes,

Save vague tradition; and the gloomy vaults

That hid their dust, their foibles, and their faults;

And half a column of the pompous page,

That speeds the specious tale from age to age;

Where History's pen its praise or blame supplies,

And lies like Truth, and still most truly lies. 190

He wandering mused, and as the moonbeam shone

Through the dim lattice, o'er the floor of stone,

And the high fretted roof, and saints, that there

O'er Gothic windows knelt in pictured prayer,[jk]

Reflected in fantastic figures grew,

Like life, but not like mortal life, to view;

His bristling locks of sable, brow of gloom,

And the wide waving of his shaken plume,

Glanced like a spectre's attributes—and gave

His aspect all that terror gives the grave.[jl] 200

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