10th Grade – Humanities II – The Medieval World
“A brief and true definition of virtue is rightly ordered love.” – St. Augustine
Room 200
Monday-Friday 10:06-11:16am
Instructors:
Contact:
Website:
Password:
Tim Walsh and Zachary Good
[email protected] and [email protected]
http://www.sacredheartacademygr.org/courses/humanities-10
Humanities1617
I. Course Description – This second course in the high school humanities sequence is
dedicated to history and literature spanning the period from the reign of Constantine to the
death of St. Joan of Arc. Building upon the student’s familiarity with the Greco-Roman world
studied in Humanities I, this course is a challenging and intellectually ambitious offering
dedicated to investigating the rise of Christendom—that distinctly Christian culture in which the
best of the pagan world was synthesized with the gospel to produce what we now call Western
Civilization.
As with every course in the academy’s humanities sequence, our time in class will be devoted to
wrestling with humanity’s perennial questions regarding man’s relationship with God, nature,
and his fellow man. To do so we will enter into dialogue with each other and the greatest minds
of the medieval period.
Primary texts will be supplemented with work in writing and recitation. In order to fully
complete and comprehend all primary text reading assignments and auxiliary materials, students
will be expected to devote up to an hour for each day in class. By engaging in close reading,
careful reflection, and guided conversation, students will explore the ideas that distinguish the
Christian West from the preceding Greco-Roman world and how the best of pagan art and
philosophy are enriched by the complete revelation of God in Christ.
II. Materials
1. Textbook: The History of the Church, A Complete Course (The Didache Series)
2. Unit 1 – Persecution of the Early Church
a. Helena, Evelyn Waugh
b. Handouts:
i. Acts of the Apostles
ii. The Didache
iii. Roman Documents on Early Christianity
iv. “The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity
v. “The Martyrdom of Polycarp”
3. Unit 2 – Paganism and Christianity
a. Confessions, St. Augustine, trans. R.S. Pine-Coffin
b. Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius
4. Unit 3 – Clash between Empire and Barbarism
a. Life and Miracles of St. Benedict, St. Gregory the Great
b. RB 1980: The Rule of St. Benedict in English, Timothy Fry ed.
c. Handouts
i. Tertullian and Origen on Education
ii. Rome Under Siege
5. Unit 4 – Carolingian Renaissance and Conflict with Islam
a. Two Lives of Charlemagne, Einhard and Notker
b. The Song of Roland, trans. Dorothy Sayers
c. Readings on Islam
6. Unit 5 – The Expansion of Christendom
a. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Pearl, trans. J.R.R. Tolkien
b. Idylls of the King, Alfred Lord Tennyson
7. Unit 6 – Christendom in Conflict
a. Beowulf, anonymous, trans. Seamus Heaney
b. The Ballad of the White Horse, G.K. Chesterton
c. Ivanhoe, Sir Walter Scott
d. Magna Carta
8. Unit 6 – The Rise of Nations
a. Inferno, Dante, trans. Anthony Esolen
b. Handouts
i. Selections from Works of Bernard of Clairvaux
ii. Selections from the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas
9. Unit 7 – Crisis of the Middle Ages
a. Henry V, Shakespeare
b. Joan of Arc, Mark Twain
c. Canterbury Tales, Chaucer
10. Supplies:
a. Three-ring binder dedicated to this course
b. Plenty of loose-leaf, college-ruled paper
c. Pens, both blue/black and red
III. Course Binders - All items should be dated and presented in chronological order within
the appropriate section. Please ask after class if you do not know where to place any given item in
your binder. It is in your best interest to keep your binder orderly year-round.
Each of the follow capital letters represents a labeled divider within the three-ring binder.
The Arabic numerals below each capital letter represent the order in which that content should
be presented. All material should appear in chronological order within its designated section.
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Organizing Your Binder
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Syllabus
Warm-ups: A master list of daily quotations, poems, and any other class warm-ups
Master Timeline
Notes: Written in outline format and grouped by unit/text
Handouts
1. Maps
2. Reading
F. Assessments
1. Quizzes
2. Recitations
3. Tests
4. Exams
G. Writing
1. To-Dos and No-Nos
2. Journal Entries/Reading Responses
i. Master list of prompts
ii. Reading responses
3. Thesis Papers
i. Planning
ii. Drafts
iii. Peer reviews
iv. Final Copies
IV. Course Requirements
A. Class attendance and participation: All students are expected to attend class unless
legitimately excused. If a student must miss a class, he or she has two school days to
complete all work assigned on the day which the student missed in addition to all other
class work. Both perfect attendance and daily participation are critical to success in this
course. All students will participate daily in class discussion.
Students are expected to contribute to the best of their ability in Socratic dialogues as well
as when they are called on to do so. While there is no formal grade for participation,
students who refuse to contribute or are repeatedly ill-prepared will not only miss the
opportunity to engage their colleagues, but will need to spend time discussing the lesson
outside of class with Mr. Walsh of Mr. Good. Lecture notes, no matter how thorough, are
an inadequate substitute for either attendance or active conversation.
All students will be seated in their assigned seats when class begins. Students are expected
to begin copying their daily assignment and the warm-up before class begins. The
instructors will begin classroom procedures at the appropriate time. There is no bell.
B. Recitations: Students should be prepared to recite from memory the following poems
on their corresponding due dates. Recitation means not only a command of the words
employed by the poet, but also an understanding of their meaning and tone reflected in
the recitation itself. These assignments are only given two kinds of grades: “Full credit” or
“no credit”.
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Students who deliver unsatisfactory recitations must work until they have accomplished
each of these tasks in turn, delivering any recitations after the first outside of the normal
class period.
1. Recitation #1 – Short Lyrics
i. “O Western Wind” –AND–
ii. Richard Lovelace’s “To Lucasta Going to Wars” –AND–
iii. Ben Jonson’s “Song to Celia”
2. Recitation #2 – Assigned portion of Alfred Tennyson’s “The Lady of Shallot”
3. Recitation #3 – Assigned portion of G.K. Chesterton’s “Lepanto”
4. Recitation #4 – Chosen excerpt from The Song of Roland
5. Recitation #5 – Final lines of Paradiso XXXIII
6. Recitation #6 – From Henry V, Act IV, Henry’s “St. Crispin’s Day Speech”
C. Journal Entries/Reading Responses: These short (1-2 page) responses to classroom
discussion and assigned reading will provide opportunities for students to think through
ideas and employ their best writing practices in the manner of a sketch or rough draft.
D. Thesis Papers: Once during each quarter, students are asked to complete a fully
developed essay. Two will be instances of literary analysis, two on specific research topics.
These assignments will involve a complete execution of the writing process from planning
to publishing. Each step of this process, with the exception of the final draft, is graded as
“full credit” or “no credit.” Complete credit is awarded for successful completion of each
phase, any of which may be attempted more than once.
E. Tests and Quizzes: Assessments are a regular part of this course. Short reading quizzes
will occur frequently—almost daily—and scheduled tests will summarize each unit of
study. The ability to complete an assessment within a given time frame is a necessary and
valuable skill. While individual accommodations may be made, students should
understand that the allotted time for an assessment is as much a part of the assessment as
the number, nature, and rigor of the questions.
V. Grading Procedures: Grades will be calculated according to the following weights. At the
high school level, semester grades are a composite of two quarters (40% each) and the semester
exam (20%). Credits for successful completion are assigned by semester.
A. Reading Quizzes (30%): Reading quizzes occur regularly, if not daily. These short
quizzes assess whether or not a student has closely read the assigned reading and
therefore are based on objective knowledge rather than in-depth analysis.
B. Tests and Recitations (40%): Three recitations are assigned per semester. Tests
occur throughout the year at the end of units. Exams are separate aspect of the grading
system, explained above.
C. Writing (30%): This aspect of a student’s grade is based on both reading responses and
thesis papers. Reading responses are assigned throughout the semester on topics draw
from our reading and discussion. These short assignments are graded on a scale of one to
ten and provide an opportunity for students to practice timed writing, proper use and
analysis of evidence, grammar, and mechanics. One thesis paper is assigned each
semester.
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VI. Expectation of Virtue: The curriculum at Sacred Heart Academy—especially at the high
school level—is exciting, engaging, and ambitious, designed to prepare students for the rigorous
environment of post-secondary education and to impart to students a love of learning and
communication. This classroom will be an environment in which all those who wish to succeed
will be given the resources and the instruction that will enable them to do so.
Students are encouraged to study together and to discuss the art and ideas covered by this course.
It is expected that students will give and receive help, advice, and consultation from each other.
However, this permissible cooperation should never involve one student having possession of a
copy of all or part of work done by someone else in any form.
During quizzes, tests, and examinations, students are expected to conduct themselves honorably.
Talking or discussion is not permitted during any assessment, nor may you collaborate in any
way. Any violation of these expectations will result in both academic and disciplinary
consequences.
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X. Tentative Course Schedule - Semester 1 – In the event of a snow day or cancellation, please proceed with the homework as scheduled.
Week
Monday
8/30-9/1
Tuesday
"The Great
Conversation"
Acts of the Apostles
The Didache
Wednesday
“The Great
Conversation”
Pliny. Trajan and
Porphyry
Thursday
Friday
Helena Ch. 4
Helena Ch. 5 and 6
Helena Ch. 7 and 8
Helena Ch. 11
Tertullian, "On Pagan
Learning"
Helena Ch. 8
Edict of Thessalonica
Confessions, Book II
Helena Ch. 2
"Passion of Perpetua
and Felicity"
Nicene Creed,
Canons of Nicaea
Unit 1 Test
Origen, "On Classical
Learning"
9/12-9/16
"Martyrdom of
Polycarp"
9/19-9/23
9/26-9/30
Edicts of Persecution
Helena Ch. 9
Helena Ch. 3
Edicts of Galerius
and Constantine
Helena Ch. 10
10/3-10/7
Confessions, Book I
Confessions, Book I
10/10-10/14
Confessions, Book III
Jerome, "Letter 22"
Confessions, Book V
Confessions, Book VI
10/17-10/21
Confessions, Book VI
Confessions, Book IV
"Creed of St.
Athanasius"
Confessions, Book VII
Confessions, Book VIII
10/24-10/28
10/31-11/4
11/7-11/11
Confessions, Book IX
Barbarian Invasions
Consolation, Book IV
Excerpts from Codex
Justinianus
Rule of St. Benedict
Confessions, Book IX
Jerome, "Letter 127"
Consolation, Book IV
Confessions, Book X
"Leo I and Attilia"
Consolation, Book IV
Confessions, Book VIII
Confessions, Book X 127
Consolation, Book III
Consolation, Book V
Ch. 3, Part I (pp. 96-100)
Ch. 3, Part II (pp. 101107)
Ch. 3, Part III (pp. 108114)
Ch. 3, Part III (pp. 114120)
Ch. 3 Conclusion
Ch. 4, Part V, Part I (pp.
128-134)
Ch. 4, Part I and II (pp.
134-138)
Ch. 4, Part III (pp. 139149)
Unit 2 Test
Consolation, Book III
Consolation, Book V
Ch. 4, Part IV, conclusion
Ch. 5, Part I
Ch. 5, Part II
Life of St. Benedict
Rule of St. Benedict
Ch. 6 intro, Part I
and II
Einhard, "The Life of
Charlemagne"
Roland, 53-92
Ch. 7, Part IV
Sir Gawain and the
Green Knight
Beowulf
Semester 1 Exams
Life of St. Benedict
Unit 3 Test
Life of St. Benedict
Rule of St. Benedict
Ch. 5, Part III
Ch. 5, Part III
Ch. 6, Part III and IV
Notker, "The Deeds
of Charlemagne"
Roland, 93-160
Ch. 7, Part IV
Sir Gawain and the
Green Knight
Beowulf
Semester 1 Exams
Ch. 6, Part V and VI
Notker, "The Deeds
of Charlemagne"
Roland, 161-226
Ch. 6, Part VII,
conclusion
Notker, "The Deeds
of Charlemagne"
Roland, 226-291
Sir Gawain and the
Green Knight
Beowulf
Semester 1 Exams
Sir Gawain and the
Green Knight
Exam Review Day
Semester 1 Exams
9/6-9/9
11/14-11/18
11/21-11/22
11/29-12/2
12/5-12/9
12/12-12/16
12/19-12/21
1/3-1/6
1/9-1/13
1/17-1/20
Readings on Islam
Einhard, "The Life of
Charlemagne"
The Song of Roland, 1-52
Unit 4 Test
Beowulf
Acts of the Apostles
History of the Church
Helena Ch. 1
Ch. 6, Part I-VII
Ch. 7, Part I and II
Ch. 7, Part III
Ch. 7, Part IV
Ch. 8, Part I
Ch. 8, Part II
Semester 2
Week
1/23-1/27
1/30-2/3
2/6-2/10
2/13-2/17
2/22-2/24
2/27-3/3
3/6-3/10
3/13-3/16
3/20-3/24
3/27-3/31
4/10-4/13
4/18-4/21
4/24-4/28
5/1-5/5
5/8-5/12
5/15-5/19
5/22-5/26
5/5-6/2
Monday
Ballad, Dedication &
Part I
Ivanhoe, Ch. 1-2
Ivanhoe, Ch. 10-11
Ivanhoe, 19-21
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Ballad, Part II
Ivanhoe, Ch. 3-4
Ivanhoe, Ch. 12-13
Ivanhoe, Ch. 22-23
Ballad, Part IV and V
Ivanhoe, Ch. 35-36
Inferno, Canto 1-3
Inferno, Canto 16-18
Inferno, Canto 28-30
Purgatory
Paradise
Ivanhoe, Ch. 37-38
Inferno, Canto 4-6
Inferno, Canto 19-21
Inferno, Canto 31-33
Purgatory
Paradise
Henry V, Act I
Joan of Arc, Book I
Joan of Arc, Book II
Joan of Arc, Book II
Ballad, Part III
Ivanhoe, Ch. 5-6
Ivanhoe, Ch. 14-15
Ivanhoe, Ch. 24-26
Ivanhoe, Ch. 29-30
Ivanhoe, Ch. 39-41
Inferno, Canto 7-9
Inferno, Canto 22-24
Purgatory
Purgatory
Paradise
Henry V, Act II
Joan of Arc, Book I
Joan of Arc, Book II
Joan of Arc, Book II
Ballard, Part VI & VII
Ivanhoe, Ch. 7-9
Ivanhoe, Ch. 16-18
Ivanhoe, Ch. 27-28
Ivanhoe, Ch. 33-34
Unit 5 Test
Inferno, Canto 13-15
Joan of Arc, Book III
Canterbury Tales, "The
Pardoner's Tale"
Semester 2 Exams
Joan of Arc, Book III
Canterbury Tales, "The
Nun's Priest's Tale"
Semester 2 Exams
Joan of Arc, Book III
Canterbury Tales, "The
Franklin's Tale"
Semester 2 Exams
Henry V, Act V
Joan of Arc, Book II
Joan of Arc, Book II
Joan of Arc, Book III
Canterbury Tales, "The
Knight's Tale"
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Magna Carta
Ivanhoe, Ch. 31-32
Ivanhoe, Ch. 42-44
Inferno, Canto 10-12
Inferno, Canto 25-27
Purgatory
Paradise
Unit 6 Test
Henry V, Act III
Joan of Arc, Book I
Joan of Arc, Book II
Joan of Arc, Book III
Purgatory
Paradise
Henry V, Act IV
Joan of Arc, Book II
Joan of Arc, Book II
Joan of Arc, Book III
Canterbury Tales,
General Prologue
Prepare for Exams
Semester 2 Exams
History of the Church
Ch. 9, Part I
Ch. 9, Part I
Ch. 9 Part II
Ch. 9, Part III
Ch. 8, Part IV and V
Ch. 10, Part IV
Ch. 10, Part I
Ch. 10 Part II
Ch. 10 Part III
Ch. 11, Part I and II
Ch. 11, Part III
Ch. 11, Part IV
Ch. 11, Part V
Appendix A: Poetry for Recitation
I sent thee late a rosy wreath,
Not so much honouring thee
As giving it a hope, that there
It could not withered be.
But thou thereon didst only breathe,
And sent’st it back to me;
Since when it grows, and smells, I swea
Not of itself, but thee.
Western Wind
O Western wind, when will thou blow?
The small rain down can rain.
Christ, if my love were in my arms,
And I in my bed again.
To Lucasta, Going to the Wars
By Richard Lovelace
Tell me not (Sweet) I am unkind,
That from the nunnery
Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind
To war and arms I fly.
True, a new mistress now I chase,
The first foe in the field;
And with a stronger faith embrace
A sword, a horse, a shield.
Yet this inconstancy is such
As you too shall adore;
I could not love thee (Dear) so much,
Lov’d I not Honour more.
Song: to Celia [“Drink to me only…”]
By Ben Jonson
Drink to me only with thine eyes,
And I will pledge with mine;
Or leave a kiss but in the cup,
And I’ll not look for wine.
The thirst that from the soul doth rise
Doth ask a drink divine;
But might I of Jove’s nectar sup,
I would not change for thine.
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From Henry V, Act IV scene iii, lines 18-67
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words,
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
WESTMORELAND
O that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in England
That do no work to-day!
KING HENRY V
What's he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin:
If we are mark'd to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires:
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England:
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more, methinks, would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made
And crowns for convoy put into his purse:
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:'
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The Lady of Shalott
And by the moon the reaper weary,
Piling sheaves in uplands airy,
Listening, whispers "'Tis the fairy
Lady of Shalott."
By Alfred Lord Tennyson
Part I
On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
And through the field the road runs by
To many-towered Camelot;
And up and down the people go,
Gazing where the lilies blow
Round an island there below,
The island of Shalott.
Part II
There she weaves by night and day
A magic web with colours gay.
She has heard a whisper say,
A curse is on her if she stay
To look down to Camelot.
She knows not what the curse may be,
And so she weaveth steadily,
And little other care hath she,
The Lady of Shalott.
Willows whiten, aspens quiver,
Little breezes dusk and shiver
Through the wave that runs for ever
By the island in the river
Flowing down to Camelot.
Four grey walls, and four grey towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
The Lady of Shalott.
And moving through a mirror clear
That hangs before her all the year,
Shadows of the world appear.
There she sees the highway near
Winding down to Camelot:
There the river eddy whirls,
And there the surly village-churls,
And the red cloaks of market girls,
Pass onward from Shalott.
By the margin, willow-veiled,
Slide the heavy barges trailed
By slow horses; and unhailed
The shallop flitteth silken-sailed
Skimming down to Camelot:
But who hath seen her wave her hand?
Or at the casement seen her stand?
Or is she known in all the land,
The Lady of Shalott?
Sometimes a troop of damsels glad,
An abbot on an ambling pad,
Sometimes a curly shepherd-lad,
Or long-haired page in crimson clad,
Goes by to towered Camelot;
And sometimes through the mirror blue
The knights come riding two and two:
She hath no loyal knight and true,
The Lady of Shalott.
Only reapers, reaping early
In among the bearded barley,
Hear a song that echoes cheerly
From the river winding clearly,
Down to towered Camelot:
But in her web she still delights
To weave the mirror's magic sights,
10
For often through the silent nights
A funeral, with plumes and lights
And music, went to Camelot:
Or when the moon was overhead,
Came two young lovers lately wed;
"I am half sick of shadows," said
The Lady of Shalott.
His broad clear brow in sunlight glowed;
On burnished hooves his war-horse trode;
From underneath his helmet flowed
His coal-black curls as on he rode,
As he rode down to Camelot.
From the bank and from the river
He flashed into the crystal mirror,
"Tirra lirra," by the river
Sang Sir Lancelot.
Part III
A bow-shot from her bower-eaves,
He rode between the barley-sheaves,
The sun came dazzling through the leaves,
And flamed upon the brazen greaves
Of bold Sir Lancelot.
A red-cross knight for ever kneeled
To a lady in his shield,
That sparkled on the yellow field,
Beside remote Shalott.
She left the web, she left the loom,
She made three paces through the room,
She saw the water-lily bloom,
She saw the helmet and the plume,
She looked down to Camelot.
Out flew the web and floated wide;
The mirror cracked from side to side;
"The curse is come upon me," cried
The Lady of Shalott.
The gemmy bridle glittered free,
Like to some branch of stars we see
Hung in the golden Galaxy.
The bridle bells rang merrily
As he rode down to Camelot:
And from his blazoned baldric slung
A mighty silver bugle hung,
And as he rode his armour rung,
Beside remote Shalott.
Part IV
In the stormy east-wind straining,
The pale yellow woods were waning,
The broad stream in his banks complaining,
Heavily the low sky raining
Over towered Camelot;
Down she came and found a boat
Beneath a willow left afloat,
And round about the prow she wrote
The Lady of Shalott.
All in the blue unclouded weather
Thick-jewelled shone the saddle-leather,
The helmet and the helmet-feather
Burned like one burning flame together,
As he rode down to Camelot.
As often through the purple night,
Below the starry clusters bright,
Some bearded meteor, trailing light,
Moves over still Shalott.
And down the river's dim expanse,
Like some bold seer in a trance
Seeing all his own mischance,
With a glassy countenance
Did she look to Camelot.
And at the closing of the day
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She loosed the chain, and down she lay;
The broad stream bore her far away,
The Lady of Shalott.
Died the sound of royal cheer;
And they crossed themselves for fear,
All the knights at Camelot:
But Lancelot mused a little space;
He said, "She has a lovely face;
God in his mercy lend her grace,
The Lady of Shalott."
Lying, robed in snowy white
That loosely flew to left and right—
The leaves upon her falling light—
Through the noises of the night
She floated down to Camelot:
And as the boat-head wound along
The willowy hills and fields among,
They heard her singing her last song,
The Lady of Shalott.
Heard a carol, mournful, holy,
Chanted loudly, chanted lowly,
Till her blood was frozen slowly,
And her eyes were darkened wholly,
Turned to towered Camelot.
For ere she reached upon the tide
The first house by the water-side,
Singing in her song she died,
The Lady of Shalott.
Under tower and balcony,
By garden-wall and gallery,
A gleaming shape she floated by,
Dead-pale between the houses high,
Silent into Camelot.
Out upon the wharfs they came,
Knight and burgher, lord and dame,
And round the prow they read her name,
The Lady of Shalott.
Who is this? and what is here?
And in the lighted palace near
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Lepanto
By G.K. Chesterton
White founts falling in the courts of the sun,
And the Soldan of Byzantium is smiling as they run;
There is laughter like the fountains in that face of all men feared,
It stirs the forest darkness, the darkness of his beard,
It curls the blood-red crescent, the crescent of his lips,
For the inmost sea of all the earth is shaken with his ships.
They have dared the white republics up the capes of Italy,
They have dashed the Adriatic round the Lion of the Sea,
And the Pope has cast his arms abroad for agony and loss,
And called the kings of Christendom for swords about the Cross,
The cold queen of England is looking in the glass;
The shadow of the Valois is yawning at the Mass;
From evening isles fantastical rings faint the Spanish gun,
And the Lord upon the Golden Horn is laughing in the sun.
Dim drums throbbing, in the hills half heard,
Where only on a nameless throne a crownless prince has stirred,
Where, risen from a doubtful seat and half attainted stall,
The last knight of Europe takes weapons from the wall,
The last and lingering troubadour to whom the bird has sung,
That once went singing southward when all the world was young,
In that enormous silence, tiny and unafraid,
Comes up along a winding road the noise of the Crusade.
Strong gongs groaning as the guns boom far,
Don John of Austria is going to the war,
Stiff flags straining in the night-blasts cold
In the gloom black-purple, in the glint old-gold,
Torchlight crimson on the copper kettle-drums,
Then the tuckets, then the trumpets, then the cannon, and he comes.
Don John laughing in the brave beard curled,
Spurning of his stirrups like the thrones of all the world,
Holding his head up for a flag of all the free.
Love-light of Spain—hurrah!
Death-light of Africa!
Don John of Austria
Is riding to the sea.
Mahound is in his paradise above the evening star,
(Don John of Austria is going to the war.)
He moves a mighty turban on the timeless houri’s knees,
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His turban that is woven of the sunset and the seas.
He shakes the peacock gardens as he rises from his ease,
And he strides among the tree-tops and is taller than the trees,
And his voice through all the garden is a thunder sent to bring
Black Azrael and Ariel and Ammon on the wing.
Giants and the Genii,
Multiplex of wing and eye,
Whose strong obedience broke the sky
When Solomon was king.
They rush in red and purple from the red clouds of the morn,
From temples where the yellow gods shut up their eyes in scorn;
They rise in green robes roaring from the green hells of the sea
Where fallen skies and evil hues and eyeless creatures be;
On them the sea-valves cluster and the grey sea-forests curl,
Splashed with a splendid sickness, the sickness of the pearl;
They swell in sapphire smoke out of the blue cracks of the ground,—
They gather and they wonder and give worship to Mahound.
And he saith, “Break up the mountains where the hermit-folk can hide,
And sift the red and silver sands lest bone of saint abide,
And chase the Giaours flying night and day, not giving rest,
For that which was our trouble comes again out of the west.
We have set the seal of Solomon on all things under sun,
Of knowledge and of sorrow and endurance of things done,
But a noise is in the mountains, in the mountains, and I know
The voice that shook our palaces—four hundred years ago:
It is he that saith not ‘Kismet’; it is he that knows not Fate ;
It is Richard, it is Raymond, it is Godfrey in the gate!
It is he whose loss is laughter when he counts the wager worth,
Put down your feet upon him, that our peace be on the earth.”
For he heard drums groaning and he heard guns jar,
(Don John of Austria is going to the war.)
Sudden and still—hurrah!
Bolt from Iberia!
Don John of Austria
Is gone by Alcalar.
St. Michael’s on his mountain in the sea-roads of the north
(Don John of Austria is girt and going forth.)
Where the grey seas glitter and the sharp tides shift
And the sea folk labour and the red sails lift.
He shakes his lance of iron and he claps his wings of stone;
The noise is gone through Normandy; the noise is gone alone;
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The North is full of tangled things and texts and aching eyes
And dead is all the innocence of anger and surprise,
And Christian killeth Christian in a narrow dusty room,
And Christian dreadeth Christ that hath a newer face of doom,
And Christian hateth Mary that God kissed in Galilee,
But Don John of Austria is riding to the sea.
Don John calling through the blast and the eclipse
Crying with the trumpet, with the trumpet of his lips,
Trumpet that sayeth ha!
Domino gloria!
Don John of Austria
Is shouting to the ships.
King Philip’s in his closet with the Fleece about his neck
(Don John of Austria is armed upon the deck.)
The walls are hung with velvet that, is black and soft as sin,
And little dwarfs creep out of it and little dwarfs creep in.
He holds a crystal phial that has colours like the moon,
He touches, and it tingles, and he trembles very soon,
And his face is as a fungus of a leprous white and grey
Like plants in the high houses that are shuttered from the day,
And death is in the phial, and the end of noble work,
But Don John of Austria has fired upon the Turk.
Don John’s hunting, and his hounds have bayed—
Booms away past Italy the rumour of his raid
Gun upon gun, ha! ha!
Gun upon gun, hurrah!
Don John of Austria
Has loosed the cannonade.
The Pope was in his chapel before day or battle broke,
(Don John of Austria is hidden in the smoke.)
The hidden room in man’s house where God sits all the year,
The secret window whence the world looks small and very dear.
He sees as in a mirror on the monstrous twilight sea
The crescent of his cruel ships whose name is mystery;
They fling great shadows foe-wards, making Cross and Castle dark,
They veil the plumèd lions on the galleys of St. Mark;
And above the ships are palaces of brown, black-bearded chiefs,
And below the ships are prisons, where with multitudinous griefs,
Christian captives sick and sunless, all a labouring race repines
Like a race in sunken cities, like a nation in the mines.
They are lost like slaves that sweat, and in the skies of morning hung
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The stair-ways of the tallest gods when tyranny was young.
They are countless, voiceless, hopeless as those fallen or fleeing on
Before the high Kings’ horses in the granite of Babylon.
And many a one grows witless in his quiet room in hell
Where a yellow face looks inward through the lattice of his cell,
And he finds his God forgotten, and he seeks no more a sign—
(But Don John of Austria has burst the battle-line!)
Don John pounding from the slaughter-painted poop,
Purpling all the ocean like a bloody pirate’s sloop,
Scarlet running over on the silvers and the golds,
Breaking of the hatches up and bursting of the holds,
Thronging of the thousands up that labour under sea
White for bliss and blind for sun and stunned for liberty.
Vivat Hispania!
Domino Gloria!
Don John of Austria
Has set his people free!
Cervantes on his galley sets the sword back in the sheath
(Don John of Austria rides homeward with a wreath.)
And he sees across a weary land a straggling road in Spain,
Up which a lean and foolish knight forever rides in vain,
And he smiles, but not as Sultans smile, and settles back the blade....
(But Don John of Austria rides home from the Crusade.)
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