Zyps Of Zirl

The Alps of the Tyrol are dark with pines,     Where, foaming under the mountain spines,     The Inn's long water sounds and shines.     Beyond, are peaks where the morning weaves     An icy rose; and the evening leaves     The glittering gold of a thousand sheaves.     Deep vines and torrents and glimmering haze,     And sheep-bells tinkling on mountain ways,     And fluting shepherds make sweet the days.     The rolling mist, like a wandering fleece,     The great round moon in a mountain crease,     And a song of love make the nights all peace.     Beneath the blue Tyrolean skies     On the banks of the Inn, that foams and flies,     The storied city of Innsbruck lies.     With its mediaeval streets, that crook,     And its gabled houses, it has the look     Of a belfried town in a fairy-book.     So wild the Tyrol that oft, 'tis said,     When the storm is out and the town in bed,     The howling of wolves sweeps overhead.     And oft the burgher, sitting here     In his walled rose-garden, hears the clear     Shrill scream of the eagle circling near.     And this is the tale that the burghers tell:--     The Abbot of Wiltau stood at his cell     Where the Solstein lifts its pinnacle.     A mighty summit of bluffs and crags     That frowns on the Inn; where the forest stags     Have worn a path to the water-flags.     The Abbot of Wiltau stood below;     And he was aware of a plume and bow     On the precipice there in the morning's glow.     A chamois, he saw, from span to span     Had leapt; and after it leapt a man;     And he knew 't was the Kaiser Maxmilian.     But, see! though rash as the chamois he,     His foot less sure. And verily     If the King should miss ... "Jesu, Marie!     "The King hath missed!"--And, look, he falls!     Rolls headlong out to the headlong walls.     What saint shall save him on whom he calls?     What saint shall save him, who struggles there     On the narrow ledge by the eagle's lair,     With hooked hands clinging 'twixt earth and air?     The Abbot, he crosses himself in dread--     "Let prayers go up for the nearly dead,     And the passing-bell be tolled," he said.     "For the House of Hapsburg totters; see,     How raveled the thread of its destiny,     Sheer hung between cloud and rock!" quoth he.     But hark! where the steeps of the peak reply,     Is it an eagle's echoing cry?     And the flitting shadow, its plumes on high?     No voice of the eagle is that which rings!     And the shadow, a wiry man who swings     Down, down where the desperate Kaiser clings.     The crampons bound to his feet, he leaps     Like a chamois now; and again he creeps     Or twists, like a snake, o'er the fearful deeps.     "By his cross-bow, baldrick, and cap's black curl,"     Quoth the Abbot below, "I know the churl!     'T is the hunted outlaw Zyps of Zirl.     "Upon whose head, or dead or alive,     The Kaiser hath posted a price.--Saints shrive     The King!" quoth Wiltau. "Who may contrive     "To save him now that his foe is there?"--     But, listen! again through the breathless air     What words are those that the echoes bear?     "Courage, my King!--To the rescue, ho!"     The wild voice rings like a twanging bow,     And the staring Abbot stands mute below.     And, lo! the hand of the outlaw grasps     The arm of the King--and death unclasps     Its fleshless fingers from him who gasps.     And how he guides! where the clean cliffs wedge     Them flat to their faces; by chasm and ledge     He helps the King from the merciless edge.     Then up and up, past bluffs that shun     The rashest chamois; where eagles sun     Fierce wings and brood; where the mists are spun.     And safe at last stand Kaiser and churl     On the mountain path where the mosses curl--     And this the revenge of Zyps of Zirl.