Oran

“ Oran, at this time, was garrisoned by seventeen hundred men; and twenty-seven pieces of artillery were mounted on its walls. Its fortifications were in good repair; but it was in no condition to stand a siege by so formidable a force as that which Hassem was mustering in Algiers. The count of Alcaudete, the governor, a soldier worthy of the illustrious stock from which he sprang, lost no time in placing both Oran and Mazarquivir in the best state of defence which his means allowed, and in acquainting Philip with the peril in which he stood. ”

“ At that the fly flew heavily from the wall, and slowly circled round and round the head of Colum the White.
“What think you of that, brother Oran, brother Keir?” he asked in a low voice, hoarse because of his long fast and the weariness that was upon him.
“It is a fiend,” said Oran.
“It is an angel,” said Keir. ”

“ The legend, which has crystallised into a popular saying, "Uir, ùir, air sùil Odhrain! mu'n labhair e tuille comhraidh"—"Earth, earth on Oran's eyes, lest he further blab"—avers that three days after the monk Oran or Odran was entombed alive (some say in the earth, some in a cavity) , Colum opened the grave, to look once more on the face of the dead brother, when to the amazed fear of the monks and the bitter anger of the abbot himself, Oran opened his eyes and exclaimed, "There is no such great wonder in death, nor is Hell what [Pg 147] it has been described." ”

“ To the rocky sides of this range there must have clung diverse peoples and civilizations, whose individual cults and tribes fought for the possession of these sun-bathed slopes, where there is always such treasure of warmth, of light, of tempering and balmy winds from the sea and of an almost incomprehensible spirit of joy that never leaves the newcomer from the moment he touches the shore of this great peaceful harbor of Oran. ”

“ IV:3:12 SIDO. Nay, then. IV:3:13 COUN. Unhand me, Sir! IV:3:14 SIDO. But to embrace this delicate waist. Thou art mine: I’ve sighed and thou hast spurned. What is not yielded In war we capture. Ere a flying hour, Thy hated Burgos vanishes. That voice; What, must I stifle it, who fain would listen For ever to its song? In vain thy cry, For none are here but mine. [Enter ORAN.] IV:3:15 ORAN. Turn, robber, turn— IV:3:16 SIDO. Ah! treason in the camp! Thus to thy heart. [They fight. ORAN beats off SIDONIA, they leave the scene fighting; the COUNTESS swoons.] ”

“ There is an ideal statuesqueness embodied in the person of St. Columba such as is felt to possess a powerful appeal to the imagination. The poem embraces many passions, of which the most tender and beautiful finds expression in the exquisite creation of the radiant golden-haired girl for whose love St. Oran breaks his vow of chastity. But the really powerful contribution to our knowledge of character which this book contains is fittingly centred in St. Oran himself. A dramatic instinct of high order finds utterance in his struggles between opposing passions. ”

“ You have learned and know Too much to spare you from my sight, good Oran. With me at once. IV:2:40 ORAN. ‘Tis urgent; well at once, And I will do good service, or I’ll die. For what is life unless to aid the life Has aided thine? IV:2:41 SIDO. On then; with me no eye Will look with jealousy upon thy step. [Exeunt both.] SCENE 3 A retired spot in the Gardens of the Palace. [Enter the COUNTESS.] IV:3:1 COUN. Is’t guilt, that I thus tremble? Why should I Feel like a sinner? I’ll not dare to meet His flashing eye. O, with what scorn, what hate His lightning glance will wither me. ”

“ Columba and Oran ... these are the two great names in Iona. Love and Faith have made one immortal; the other lives also, clothed in legend. I am afraid there is not much definite basis for the popular Iona legend of Oran. It is now the wont of guides and others to speak of the Réilig Odhrain, Oran's burial-place, as that of Columba's friend (and victim) , but it seems likelier that the Oran who lies here is he who is spoken [Pg 146] of in the Annals of the Four Masters as having died in the year 548, that is fifteen years before Colum came to the island. ”

“ I vowed to thee A life for that which thou didst spare—‘tis well. The debt is paid. [Stabs himself and falls.] [Enter the COUNTESS from the inner Chamber.] V:3:52 COUN. I cannot sleep—my dreams are full of woe! Alarcos! my Alarcos! Hah! dread sight! Oran! V:3:53 ORAN. O, spare her; ‘tis no sacrifice If she be spared. V:3:54 COUN. Wild words! Thou dost not speak. O, speak, Alarcos! speak! V:3:55 ORAN. His voice is death. V:3:56 COUN. Ye Saints uphold me now, for I am weak And lost. What means this? Oran dying! Nay— Alarcos! I’m a woman. Aid me, aid me. Why’s Oran thus? O, save him, my Alarcos! ”

“ Had not the prisoner been prevented by his own feelings from giving note to any thing save the mere words of the refugee, he might have detected the traces of some extraordinary emotion in the unusual abruptness of his expressions. He even failed to observe the incongruity between Oran's invitation to choose an executioner from his whole band, and the late declaration he had made, that the band was broken up. He repeated the name of Staples, adding, "Let it be Staples, brother, for he is the boldest and truest: he fears nothing, and he misses nothing." ”

“ Which yet must have some office, rightly used,
Man hath a secret source, for some great end,
Which by delay seems wasted. Ignorance
Chokes us, and time outwits us."—On he passed.
"That soul hath greater cause for grief than I,"
Orion thought—yet not the less was sad.
⁠Away disconsolate the giant went,
Now clambering forest slopes, now hurrying down
Precipitous brakes, tearing the berried boughs
For food, scarce tasted, and oft gathering husks,
Or wind-eggs of strange birds dropt in the fens,
To toss them in some rapid brook, and watch
Their wavering flight. ”

“ He wanted to cross the water before making camp.
"He is afraid that that dog of a Maak will make magic back yonder on the mountains," leered Orani.
The half-breed swore at the Mongol, and they made camp where they were. Orani rather wished Maak had shown up again. He wanted a shot at the Buriat—Petrovan had made a mess of the shooting.
While Petrovan snored through the night the half-breed sat with his back to a broad tree, watching, by the intermittent flickering in the sky, lest a thin, black figure try to approach the herd over the snow. ”

“ The half-breed: almost across the Irkut, had let the reindeer get out of hand. The leaders of the herd had no sooner gained footing on the farther bank than they about-faced, throwing the great mass of animals into confusion.
Orani bellowed and waved his arms to no avail. The herd churned the water, tossing their horns. Then they started back toward the Mongol and Petrovan. At the same instant Petrovan stopped cursing and Orani ceased his unavailing shouts. A white buck paced down the farther bank to the river-edge, and on the white buck was Maak. ”

“ The Kazi is searching the words of the Koran, and instructing others: but if his heart be not steeped in that love, what does it avail, though he be a teacher of men? ”

“ Thus it might happen that he would spend his life in ignorance of true love, while all the time possessing those qualities most fitted to inspire it. But if ever he find the ideal woman who has haunted his waking dreams, if he meet with a nature capable of understanding his own, one who could fill his soul and pour sunlight over his life, could shine as a star through the mists of this chill and gloomy world, lend fresh charm to existence, and draw music from the hitherto silent chords of his being—needless to say, he would recognize and welcome his good fortune. ”

“ Let us leave the city of Teloth and fare together among the hills of spring. Thou shalt shew me the ways of travel and I will attend thy songs at evening when the stars one by one bring dreams to the minds of dreamers. And peradventure it may be that Oonai the city of lutes and dancing is even the fair Aira thou seekest, for it is told that thou hast not known Aira since the old days, and a name often changeth. Let us go to Oonai, O Iranon of the golden head, where men shall know our longings and welcome us as brothers, nor even laugh or frown at what we say. ”

“ Myself alone, perhaps, as I sat buried in silence, thought of the whole generations which as they were hurried along by life, passed on their way without living. Before my eyes rose faces of women by the million, by the myriad, all dead, all disappointed and shedding tears of despair, as they looked back upon the lost moments of their ignorant youth. ”

“ How should men know her, this Fair One of Oleron's, until Oleron himself knew her? Lovely radiant creations are not thrown off like How-d'ye-do's. The men to whom it is committed to father them must weep wretched tears, as Oleron did, must swell with vain presumptuous hopes, as Oleron did, must pursue, as Oleron pursued, the capricious, fair, mocking, slippery, eager Spirit that, ever eluding, ever sees to it that the chase does not slacken. ”

“ But good ones love the dark, and find
The night as pleasant as the day.
When the song was finished Oberon and Titania arose on their throne and faint strains of music were heard in the air; for a moment the whole place sparkled with light and colour, and then all the fairies had gone in a flash to their distant places, and nothing but a faint circle of darker grass showed where the great assembly had been. ”

“ The gossips at the corners nod knowingly this morning, and Orrin, whose brow is moodier than the Colonel's, walks fiercely amongst them without word and without look. He is on his way to Juliet's house, and if there is enchantment left in smiles, I bid her to use it, for her fate is trembling in the balance, and may tip in a direction of which she little recks.
Orrin has come back. Striding impetuously into the room where I sat at work, he drew [77] himself up till his figure showed itself in all its full and graceful proportions.
"Am I a man?" ”

“ Beams settled with a tired sigh into their old mortices; creatures ticked in the walls; joints cracked, boards complained; with no palpable stirring of the air window-sashes changed their positions with a soft knock in their frames. And whether the place had life in this sense or not, it had at all events a winsome personality. It needed but an hour of musing for Oleron to conceive the idea that, as his own body stood in friendly relation to his soul, so, by an extension and an attenuation, his habitation might fantastically be supposed to stand in some relation to himself. ”

“ Orren became tense and he Questioned the ArchBishop's reasoning for not letting him ready for defence. Afterall, Orren was in charge of the army.
"We don't need tension between ourselves, Your Holiness!" Orren finally said. "We have to be ready for anything. The people of this city, and outlying towns and villages, have been behaving very strangely in recent times. They don't seem to be expressing their dislike for their living conditions and over-taxing. They wane in their fear of you. Something is very wrong." ”

“ Walking straight to the fountain, Onrai mounted the dais and glancing about him for a moment at the hushed, bewildered Onians, said:
“It has pleased our great God to give us a warning; this warning admonishes us to be careful, watchful and diligent. If any among you have sinned or are sinning, this fearful storm tells you to turn from the evil of your ways; if you have intentions of sinning, it speaks to you a warning, but I cannot believe that my people are sinning. I look among you to-day and see not one guilty face. You are bewildered, in wonderment, 146but this is not guilt. ”

“ Oberon wanted the child to follow him and be one of his fairy knights; but the Queen would not give him up.
On this night, in a mossy moonlit glade, the King and Queen of the fairies met.
“Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania,” said the King.
“What! jealous, Oberon?” answered the Queen. “You spoil everything with your quarreling. Come, fairies, let us leave him. I am not friends with him now.”
“It rests with you to make up the quarrel,” said the King.
“Give me that little Indian boy, and I will again be your humble servant and suitor.” ”

“ Though Oberon fixed the ass's head on very gently, it awakened him, and rising up, unconscious of what Oberon had done to him, he went towards the bower where the fairy queen slept.
"Ah! what angel is that I see?" said Titania, opening her eyes, and the juice of the little purple flower beginning to take effect: "Are you as wise as you are beautiful?"
"Why, mistress," said the foolish clown, "if I have wit enough to find the way out of this wood, I have enough to serve my turn,"
"Out of the wood do not desire to go," said the enamoured queen. "I am a spirit of no common rate. I love you. ”

“ Who with change-hating eyes, fixed on the earth,
Discoursed, and to Orion's anxious looks
Thus made reply. "We have resolved to give
Our utmost aid—or aid that may suffice,—
In furtherance of thy task, which many days
Rightly requires." "Six days," Orion said,
And turned to go; when Harpax interposed:
"Be it then six, but our conditions hear.
Take Merope, thy prize; the rest be ours. ”

“ Jesus! Jesus! Centuries must elapse before your day shall arrive!"
"Be careful, friend!" said Ronan, "speak not so loud. Yonder holy man of a bishop, who sleeps not far from you, gorged with wine and meat, might excommunicate you if he heard you! But to the devil with sadness! We live in damnable days—let us live like the damned! Up, my Vagres, up! You are thrice holy! Let our Saturnalia cover all Gaul—let this land of our fathers be the grave of the Franks, even if it has to be the grave of ourselves. The ruins of our deserted cities will tell future centuries: 'Here lies a great people! ”