XI + 

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 hall-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 bloodthirsty race! + 