Downfall of Thuringia_.

'One must,' says Leo,[35] 'refer the chief excellence of the poem to
the lady who tells the tale, must grant that the irresistible power
of the description, the spectacle of the freshly open wounds, the
sympathy in the consuming sorrow of a friend, gave unwonted power of
the wing to this low-flying pen.' Radegunde is thinking of her only
remaining relative, Amalafried:

When the wind murmurs, I listen if it bring me some news, but of
all my kindred not even a shadow presents itself to me.... And
thou, Amalafried, gentle son of my father's brother, does no
anxiety for me consume thy heart? Hast thou forgotten what
Radegunde was to thee in thy earliest years, and how much thou
lovedst me, and how thou heldst the place of the father, mother,
brother, and sister whom I had lost? An hour absent from thee
seemed to me eternal; now ages pass, and I never hear a word from
thee. A whole world now lies betwixt those who loved each other
and who of old were never separate. If others, for pity alone,
cross the Alps to seek their lost slaves, wherefore am I
forgotten?--I who am bound to thee by blood? Where art thou? I
ask the wind as it sighs, the clouds as they pass--at least some
bird might bring me news of thee. If the holy enclosure of this
monastery did not restrain me, thou shouldst see me suddenly
appear beside thee. I could cross the stormy seas in winter if it
were necessary. The tempest that alarms the sailors should cause
no fear to me who love thee. If my vessel were dashed to pieces
by the tempest, I should cling to a plank to reach thee, and if I
could find nothing to cling to, I should go to thee swimming,
exhausted. If I could but see thee once more, I should deny all