For some minutes amongst the wood and leafage a rending and heaving went on.
The uptorn trees are not rooted again; the parted hills are left scarred; if there is a new growth, the trees are not the same as the old, and the hills underneath their green vesture bear the marks of the past rending.
And that was a day of romance; If those robber-barons were somewhat grim and drunken ogres, they had a certain grandeur of the wild beast in them,—they were forest boars with tusks, tearing and rending, not the ordinary domestic grunter; they represented the demon forces forever in collision with beauty, virtue, and the gentle uses of life; they made a fine contrast in the picture with the wandering minstrel, the soft-lipped princess, the pious recluse, and the timid Israelite.
A silver vase abruptly broke with a gush of water, And out leapt armored horses and weapons that clashed and smote -- And, before she laid her pick down, she ended with one stroke, And all four strings made one sound, as of rending silk There was quiet in the east boat and quiet in the west, And we saw the white autumnal moon enter the river's heart.
Wringing his hands and rending his beard, he exclaimed: "Wretched son!
