Chapter C: G. L

THE TWO FRIENDS.

I have two friends, two glorious friends--two braver could not be, And every night when midnight tolls they meet to laugh with me.

The first was shot by Carlist thieves, two years ago, in Spain; The second drowned near Alicante,--while I alive remain.

I love to see their dim white forms come floating through the night, And grieve to see them fade away in early morning light.

The first with gnomes in the Underland is leading a lordly life, And the second has married a mermaiden, a beautiful water-wife.

And since I have friends in the earth and sea, with a few, I trust, on high, Tis a matter of small account to me, the way that I must die.

For whether I sink in the foaming flood, or swing on the triple tree, Or die in my bed, as a Christian should, is all the same to me.