The Courtship of Miles Standish by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow I
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The Courtship of Miles Standish Suddenly breaking the silence, the dili- by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow gent scribe interrupting, Spake, in the pride of his heart, Miles I Standish the Captain of Plymouth. Miles Standish “Look at these arms,” he said, “the war- In the Old Colony days, in Plymouth the like weapons that hang here land of the Pilgrims, Burnished and bright and clean, as if for To and fro in a room of his simple and parade or inspection! primitive dwelling, This is the sword of Damascus I fought Clad in doublet and hose, and boots of Cor- with in Flanders; this breastplate, dovan leather, Well I remember the day! once saved my Strode, with a martial air, Miles Standish life in a skirmish; the Puritan Captain. Here in front you can see the very dint of Buried in thought he seemed, with his the bullet hands behind him, and pausing Fired at point-blank at my heart by a Spanish Ever and anon to behold his glittering arcabucero. weapons of warfare, Had it not been of sheer steel, the for- Hanging in shining array along the walls gotten bones of Miles Standish of the chamber,- Would at this moment be mould, in their Cutlass and corselet of steel, and his trusty grave in the Flemish morasses.” sword of Damascus, Thereupon answered John Alden, but Curved at the point and inscribed with its looked not up from his writing: mystical Arabic sentence, “Truly the breath of the Lord hath slack- While underneath, in a corner, were fowl- ened the speed of the bullet; ing-piece, musket, and matchlock. He in his mercy preserved you, to be our Short of stature he was, but strongly built shield and our weapon!” and athletic, Still the Captain continued, unheeding the Broad in the shoulders, deep-chested, with words of the stripling: muscles and sinews of iron; “See, how bright they are burnished, as if Brown as a nut was his face, but his russet in an arsenal hanging; beard was already That is because I have done it myself, and Flaked with patches of snow, as hedges not left it to others. sometimes in November. Serve yourself, would you be well served, Near him was seated John Alden, his friend is an excellent adage; and household companion, So I take care of my arms, as you of your Writing with diligent speed at a table of pens and your inkhorn. pine by the window; Then, too, there are my soldiers, my great, Fair-haired, azure eyed, with delicate Saxon invincible army, complexion, Twelve men, all equipped, having each his Having the dew of his youth, and the rest and his matchlock, beauty thereof, as the captives Eighteen shillings a month, together with Whom Saint Gregory saw, and exclaimed, diet and pillage, “Not Angles, but Angels.” And, like Caesar, I know the name of each Youngest of all was he of the men who of my soldiers!” came in the Mayflower. This he said with a smile, that danced in his eyes, as the sunbeams many already have perished!” Sadly his face he averted, and strode up Dance on the waves of the sea, and vanish and down, and was thoughtful. again in a moment. Alden laughed as he wrote, and still the Fixed to the opposite wall was a shelf of Captain continued: books, and among them “Look! you can see from this window my Prominent three, distinguished alike for brazen howitzer planted bulk and for binding; High on the roof of the church, a preacher Bariffe’s Artillery Guide, and the Com- who speaks to the purpose, mentaries of Caesar Steady, straightforward, and strong, with Out of the Latin translated by Arthur irresistible logic, Goldinge of London, Orthodox, flashing conviction right into the And, as if guarded by these, between them hearts of the heathen. was standing the Bible. Now we are ready, I think, for any assault Musing a moment before them, Miles of the Indians; Standish paused, as if doubtful Let them come, if they like, and the sooner Which of these three he should choose for they try it the better,-- his consolation and comfort, Let them come, if they like, be it sagamore, Whether the wars of the Hebrews, the fa- sachem, or pow-wow, mous campaigns of the Romans, Aspinet, Samoset, Corbitant, Squanto, or Or the Artillery practice, designed for bel- Tokamahamon!” ligerant Christians. Finally down from its shelf he dragged the Long at the window he stood, and wist- ponderous Roman, fully gazed at the landscape, Seated himself by the window, and opened Washed with a cold gray mist, the vapory the book, and in silence breath of the east-wind, Turned o’er the well-worn leaves, where Forest and meadow and hill, and the steel- thumb-marks thick in the margin, blue rim of the ocean, Like the trample of feet, proclaimed the Lying silent and sad, in the afternoon shad- battle was hottest. ows and sunshine. Nothing was heard in the room but the Over his countenance flitted a shadow like hurrying pen of the stripling, those on the landscape, Busily writing epistles important, to go by Gloom intermingled with light; and his the Mayflower, voice was subdued with emotion, Ready to sail on the morrow, or next day Tenderness, pity, regret, as after a pause at latest, God willing! he proceeded: Homeward bound with the tidings of all “Yonder there, on the hill by the sea, lies that terrible winter, buried Rose Standish; Letters written by Alden, and full of the Beautiful rose of love, that bloomed for me name of Priscilla! by the wayside! Full of the name and fame of the Pu- She was the first to die of all who came in ritan maiden Priscilla! the Mayflower! Green above her is growing the field of wheat we have sown there, Better to hide from the Indian scouts the graves of our people, crowded so closely together Lest they should count them and see how There was no room for their swords? II Why, he seized a sword from a sol- Love and Friendship dier Put himself straight at the head of his Nothing was heard in the room but the troops, and commanded the captains, hurrying pen of the stripling, Calling on each by his name, to order for- Or and occasional sigh from the laboring ward the ensigns; heart of the Captain, Then to widen the ranks, and give more Reading the marvelous words and acieve- room for their weapons; ments of Julius Caesar. So he won the day, the battle of something- After a while he exclaimed, as he smote or-other. with his hand, palm downwards, That’s what I always say; if you wish a Heavily on the page: “A wonderful man thing to be well done, was this Caesar! You must do it yourself, you must not leave You are a writer, and I am a fighter, but it to others!” here is a fellow Who could both write and fight, and in All was silent again; the Captain con- both was he equally skilful!” tinued his reading. Straightway answered and spake John Nothing was heard in the room but the Alden, the comely, the youthful: hurrying pen of the stripling “Yes, he was equally skilled, as you say, Writing epistles important to go the next with his pen and his weapons. day by the Mayflower, Somewhere have I read, but where I for- Filled with the name and the fame of the get, he could dictate Puritan maiden Priscilla, Seven letters at once, at the same time Till the treacherous pen, to which he con- writing his memoirs.” fided the secret, “Truly,” continued the Captain, not heed- Strove to betray it by singing and shouting ing or hearing the other, the name of Priscilla! “Truly a wonderful man was Caius Julius Finally closing his book, with a bang of the Caesar! ponderous cover, Better be first, he said, in a little Iberian Sudden and loud as the sound of a soldier village, grounding his musket, Than be second in Rome, and I think he Thus to the young man spake Miles Stan- was right when he said it. dish the Captain of Plymouth: Twice was he married before he was “When you have finished your work, I have twenty, and many times after; something important to tell you. Battles five hundred he fought, and a Be not however in haste; I can wait; I thousand cities he conquered; shall not be impatient!” He, too, fought in Flanders, as he himself Straightway Alden replied, as he folded the has recorded; last of his letters, Finally he was stabbed by his friend, the Pushing his papers aside, and giving re- orator Brutus! spectful attention: Now, do you know what he did on a cer- “Speak; for whenever you speak, I am tain occasion in Flanders, always ready to listen, When the rear-guard of his army retreated, Always ready to hear whatever pertains to the front giving way too, pleadings and wooings of lovers, And the immortal Twelfth Legion was Such as you think best adapted to win the Miles Standish.” heart of a maiden.” Thereupon answered the Captain, embar- rassed, and culling his phrases: When he had spoken, John Alden, the “’T not good for a man to be alone, say fair-haired, taciturn stripling, the Scriptures. All aghast at his words, surprised, embar- This I have said before, and again and rassed, bewildered, again I repeat it; Trying to mask his dismay by treating the Every hour in the day, I think it, and feel subject with lightness, it, and say it.