University of Virginia Library


149

THE EAGLE TOWER OF CAERNARVON CASTLE.

Like some old crazed monarch, crowned with weeds,
And blossoms gathered from the wild field flowers,
Art thou; above thy ramparts and thy riven towers.
On the lone turret, where the stock dove breeds,
A lone flower sheds its perfume in the air,
Whether the sky above is bright and fair,
Or fiery billow clouds herald the storm that lowers:
Sweet type of love that to the wreck will cling,
And what it loveth once will love for ever,
Nor joy, nor grief, nor weal, nor woe, can sever,—
As faithful in the winter as in spring,—
Constant unto the death, faithful for now and aye,
Like beauty bending o'er the couch of one prepared to die.