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Ah, happy chance! the aged creature came,
Shuffling along with ivory-headed wand,
To where he stood, hid from the torch’s flame,
Behind a broad hail-pillar, far beyond
The sound of merriment and chorus bland:
He startled her; but soon she knew his face,
And grasp’d his fingers in her palsied hand,
Saying, “Mercy, Porphyro! hie thee from this place;
“They are all here to-night, the whole blood-thirsty race!
Summary
By a lucky coincidence this old woman moving with difficulty and with the support at a stick the top of which has become polished like ivory by constant use, comes to where Porphyro is standing hidden from the light of the torches, behind a hall-pillar, where the sound of merriments and sweet music cannot reach. The old woman is at first startled at his sight, but soon she recognizes him and grasps his fingers in her trembling hand, saying “May God have mercy on you! hastily fly from this place, as the whole of the blood-thirsty race had assembled here tonight”.