And think that I too chant it then, far in my cloister dim.”
“Yes! I will take the silvery lute—and I will sing to thee
A song we heard in childhood’s days, even from our father’s knee.
O sister! sister! are these notes amid forgotten things?
Do they not linger as in love, on the familiar strings?
Seems not our sainted mother’s voice to murmur in the strain?
Kind sister! gentlest Leonor! say shall it plead in vain?”
[ [412] This ballad was composed for a kind of dramatic recitative, relieved by music. It was thus performed by two graceful and highly accomplished sisters.
SONG.
“Leave us not, leave us not!