 | Poems |  |
55
SONNET.
[Their name exists no longer; their renown]
Their name exists no longer; their renownHath past for ever; the rude village clown
Jests o'er their fallen greatness; not a stone
Remains of halls and mansions once their own;
Where once was ladye's bower, and knightly selle,
The rank grass waves, the forest creatures dwell.
Yet they were proud and great in days of yore;
No sterner war-cry rang on Paynim shore;
No nobler band of vassals fill'd the train
Of martial Baron, or of lordly Thane;
They reigned as princes in their native land;
Their's was the generous heart, the open hand;
Their's was a broad domain, a genial clime,
And rank, and pomp, and state—but what are these to Time?
| Poems | |