Gelert

 

Llewellyn And His Dog
by Hon. W. R. Spencer

The spearman heard the bugle sound, And cheerily smiled the morn; And many a brach, and many a hound,

Obeyed Llewellyn's horn.

And still he blew a louder blast, And gave a louder cheer: "Come, Gelert, come, why are thou last Llewellyn's horn to hear!

"Oh, where does faithful Gelert roam? The flower of all his race! So true, so brave -- a lamb at home,

A lion in the chase!"

'Twas only at Llewellyn's board The faithful Gelert fed; He watched, he served, he cheered his lord,

And sentinel'd his bed.

In sooth he was a peerless hound, The gift of Royal John - But now no Gelert could be found,

And all the chase rode on.

And now as over rocks and dells The gallant chidings rise, All Snowdon's craggy chaos yells

With many mingled cries.

That day Llewellyn little loved The chase of hart or hare; And scant and small the booty proved,

For Gelert was not there.

Unpleased Llewellyn homeward hied, When, near the portal-seat, His truant, Gelert, he espied,

Bounding his lord to greet.

But when he gained the castle-door, Aghast the chieftain stood; The hound all o'er was smeared with gore --

His lips, his fangs ran blood!

Llewellyn gazed with fierce surprise, Unused such looks to meet, His favorite checked his joyful guise,

And crouched and licked his feet.

Onward in haste Llewellyn passed -- And on went Gelert too -- And still, where'er his eyes were cast,

Fresh blood-gouts shocked his view!

O'erturned his infant's bed he found, The bloodstained covert rent, And all around, the walls and ground,

With recent blood besprent.

He called his child -- no voice replied; He searched -- with terror wild; Blood! blood! he found on every side,

But nowhere found the child!

"Hell-hound! my child's by thee devoured!" The frantic father cried; And, to the hilt,

his vengeful sword He plunged in Gelert's side!

His suppliant looks, as prone he fell, No pity could impart; But still his Gelert's dying yell, Passed heavy o'er his heart.

Aroused by Gelert's dying yell, Some slumberer wakened nigh: What words the parent's joy can tell,

To hear his infant cry?

Concealed beneath a tumbled heap, His hurried search had missed, All glowing from his rosy sleep

The cherub-boy he kissed.

Nor scathe had he, nor harm, nor dread -- But the same couch beneath Lay a gaunt wolf, all torn and

dead -- Tremendous still in death!

Ah! what was then Llewellyn's pain, For now the truth was clear;

The gallant hound the wolf had slain, To save Llewellyn's heir.

Vain, vain was all Llewellyn's woe; "Best of thy kind, adieu! The frantic deed which laid thee low This heart shall ever rue!"

And now a gallant tomb they raise, With costly sculpture decked; And marbles, storied with his praise, Poor Gelert's bones protect.

Here never could the spearman pass, Or forester, unmoved; Here oft the tear-besprinkled grass Llewellyn's sorrow proved.

And here he hung his horn and spear, And there, as evening fell, In fancy's ear he oft would hear Poor Gelert's dying yell.

Party Time

At the end of the second term I went to quite a few parties. One took place in a club called Oceana and was Easter-bunny themed. Alice, whose birthday it was, invited us to come along and so we did! She is also my English language tandem partner who very successfully helped me with my CPE preparation (because I passed :).

bunny... ah buddy Matti, birthday bunny Alice and Spanish bunny Olga

same night, an hour later...

This party was on 31st March, but only two days later on the 2nd April I was invited to Pascal's house party in Aachen which was no less fun (for some people at least) as can be seen in the below picture.

Some parties, unfortunately, don't always have a happy ending, especially if people bump their heads against walls:

Kathy in the A&E department of Queen Elisabeth Hospital

This incident didn't have any long term consequences (as far as noted) and soon after we were in a drinking mood again:

beers!!

 

I have asked myself if it is just an Erasmus thing that inevitably damages your liver, or could there be another reason for excessive drinking and partying? Maybe it's due to the fact that it is England, too. Indeed there is a great pub culture (=drinking culture?) and an English man/woman can hardly be beaten in that discipline (trust me, I tried not only once!), as well as in pool, darts, table football, and playing on quiz machines.
I wondered if maybe the limited amount of time in their Erasmus year urges people's minds to keep telling them: "Make the most of it!, Seize the day!, Take as much as you can, ... and don't mind the consequences?" Are there consequences at all? Would they be rather positive or negative? I only know that if there's too much of something, it becomes less special, and therefore less valued or rather uninteresting. I had a point where I didn't want to go to parties anymore, because I was bored of them. Different parties blurred into each other and one was just as good (or bad) as the other.
I really think it is the people who make the difference. If you respect people, you don't treat them superficially - and this is probably what I have missed at many parties. Of course, I also had many real-deal experiences in the last couple of weeks and month with some serious talk and enjoyable chitchat which will stick in my mind for long (hopefully).
I really hope that you don't get the wrong idea of me being abroad - I also work hard and have a "real" life here (the notion of real is still open to discussion, of course), but, how can I best put this, it is different to studying in Aachen in terms of intensity. Your life is happening in a fast forward mode: Friends are made quicker and lost faster, routines are rare and become an important means of orientation rather than merely being dull. Decisions are made more conscious and you tend to opt for 'yes' more often than for 'no', because there might not be a second chance at all! That is certainly worth retaining for future decisions, I reckon. Ok, enough for today - back to my essay which is on the brink of its completion!