Touched the low level sands, and died:
Yet not a wave was seen to flow,
So thick the dun haze bung below.
Now slowly melting into day,
Vapour and mist dissolved away,
And the blue world of waters round
Met the far heaven's o'er-arching bound:
And gleaming through the gorgeous fold
Of clouds, around his glory rolled,
The orb of gold, far off, half seen,
Levelled his rays of tremulous sheen,
That widely as the billows roll
Glanced quivering on their distant goal.”.

The arrival of Almanzor, king of Lybia, is then described, who comes to demand the hand of Constance. He offers the alternative of peace and plentiful supplies, or war; and the famished garrison favor his suit. The king refers the decision to Constance.

Thus Constance is pledged to become the bride of Almanzor, unless within a year his kingdom should be restored to Pedro, and the hand of Constance be demanded by some Christian knight of princely rank. The next canto describes the court of Edward, the black prince, at Bourdeaux; at that time thronged with knights, for the celebration of a festival. The songs of the minstrels are finished, when

“ A stranger, clad in palmer's weed,
Leapt from a spent and panting steed."

“ The stranger, at the banquet door,
As one well-wont to state and place,
Checked the rude swiftness of his pace:
And casting off the palmer's gown
On the fresh reeds that strowed the Aoor,
In graceful guise, bowed lowly down,
And stood before each wondering guest,
A page in royal livery drest.
Nor boy, nor man, in bloom of life,
When youth and manhood seem at strife.
A royal page :- 'twas clear to view-
Velvet his mantle, crimson hue ;
With ring and broach his kirtle graced,
And gold the sash that girt his waist.
Yet-like the lily's beauteous flower,
That lonely droops beneath the shower,
And hanging o'er its humid bed
Seems from its cup a tear to shed :
So wan his hue, so fair his face,
Where woe had left its lingering trace."

This page was Julian, the illegitimate child of Ellen, the sister of Pedro. He was the companion and friend of Constance. He had left Corunna before Pedro had returned. His suit for assistance for Constance is seconded by the princess Joanna, Edward's spouse ; and he departs with pledges of love and assistance from the duke of Lancaster,* and with an invitation from Edward to Constance to repair to his court. The tale of Julian is introduced, in which are the following verses.

"'Twas when Maria sunk to rest,
The new-born Constance on her breast,
When Pedro o'er her fondly hung,
The blessing trembling on his tongue,
From the last kiss of Ellenor,
The Nuns her hapless Orphan bore.

The famed John of Gaunt.

1

Laid on Maria's couch, the child
Looked on her face, and sweetly smiled.
*Hence !'-the stern Monarch fiercely cried
• Hence ! with some nameless peasant place
That stain of the Castillian race.'

Maria's sigh alone replied.
She thought on Ellen, dead and gone,
And the orphan in a world alone ;
Then-clasped to her maternal breast
The babes, caressing and carest;
Their arms in innocence entwined.
That sight o'erpowered stern Pedro's mind-
*So, peaceful, on that bosom rest!
So pass,'--he cried—your infant year!
And blest them with a father's tear."

Shortly after the return of Julian to Corunna, an English vessel arrives, and Pedro embarks with Constance for Bourdeaux, to claim assistance from allied England. Meanwhile at Edward's court a splendid tournament was preparing ; and a long description is given of the dresses of the combatants, which were assumed to represent the heroes of the times of Arthur and Charlemagne, in which there is a greater display of chivalric lore than of poetry, and which is probably introduced to occupy the time necessary for king Pedro's voyage. His arrival is announced by the page Julian, who rushes amid the prepared combatants, breathless and wounded, and alarms them by cries for assistance for Constance and Pedro, who, even in the harbor of Bourdeaux, were attacked by a Moorish vessel.

“ Speed, Conqueror-speed !--the Paynims fling
Their fetters round Castillia's King,
And rudely seized the captive Maid.
What earthly power shall Constance aid ?
Lo !-Lancaster high waves the blade,
And bold the peerless fair to save,
Or greatly perish in the wave,

1

Spurs down the stream his foaming steed.
Filled with his fire, with lightning speed,
The rival chiefs, knight urging knight,

Stem the deep flood, and join the fight."

The captive king and his daughter were soon released. In the following night Pedro has a dream, in which he foresees his own final subjugation and murder by his brother Henry.* This is a proof of Mr. Sotheby's want of very great inventive genius ; for it is merely a versification of the history of the death of the king, and has nothing in it of the wildness and confusedness of terrifying dreams. Edward, with the assembled knights of his court, among whom appeared one unknown to the rest, being concealed under the disguise of his closed armour, on the day after the arrival of Pedro, declares his readiness to hear his suit. " Yet blood is charg. ed on Pedro's brow," and he must exculpate himself from the heavy charges against him. This produces a confession from the king; after which, upon his promise to endow a chantry, and to go as a warrior to the holy land, he is absolved by a revo erend priest who was present, and then more successfully again urges his claims.

“ At once, ere Pedro's closing word,

Up from their seats the warriors sprung,
Leapt from each sheath th' avenging sword,

The roof with martial elangour rung:
Brave Lancaster, before the rest,
Exultant to the Virgin prest,
His hand now hovered o'er the veil :
When in the thunder of his mail,
With lightning speed, with eye of fire,
Baring his brow in scornful ire,
The stranger knight before him flew,
His outstretched arm a dagger drew,

Shook o'er the maid in vengeful mood; * See note B, following the Review.

Hence or this poniard drinks her blood.
Behold Almanzor, Afric's King.'”

But Lancaster throws down his gauntlet, and challenges his rival to prove his merit by the sword. A combat, after the common fashion of such combats, ensues, in which Almanzor is slain. The veil is removed from Constance, and Lancaster claims her as his bride. The last canto commences with an allusion to the modern glories of Britain, particularly her late victories in Spain. The march of Edward's army is then described, in which Constance proceeds, attended by Julian and Lancaster.

“ Gay balancing with flexile grace
The cadence of his courser's pace,
On his barbed roan in martial pride
Castillia's champion woos the bride,
And wins her with hervic tale bu
Of wars where youthful knights prevail,
Deeds of renown for beauty done,
And realms, for love of ladies, won.

'Twas Constance, 'twas her subtile thread
That o'er his belt its broidery spread ;
'Twas her fair hand its fancies wove,
Emblem of bliss and nuptial love.
Where the bright texture richly glowed,
In silver wave the ocean flowed.
There floating in a pearly shell
Whence light as from a rain-bow fell,
Went Hymen veiled, and gaily wreathed
A garland where fresh roses breathed.
Cupid here played the pilot's part,
His rudder was a diamond dart:
Wide waved his plumes, each wing a sail,
Fluttering its feathers in the gale.

An emerald its centre shone,
And changeful opals clasped the zone."