A Metrical History of England Or, Recollections, in Rhyme, Of some of the most prominent Features in our National Chronology, from the Landing of Julius Caesar to the Commencement of the Regency, in 1812. In Two Volumes ... By Thomas Dibdin |
 | I. |
 | 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
|
|
|
| 4. |
| 5. |
| 6. |
| II. |
 | A Metrical History of England |  |
95
“Cut off even in the blossom of my sin,
“Unhousell'd, unannointed, unanneal'd,
“No reck'ning made, but sent to my account,
“With all my imperfections on my head.”
“Unhousell'd, unannointed, unanneal'd,
“No reck'ning made, but sent to my account,
“With all my imperfections on my head.”
“I have given suck, and know
“How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me;
“I wou'd, while it was smiling in my face,
“Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums,
“And dash'd the brains out.”
Shakespeare.
“How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me;
“I wou'd, while it was smiling in my face,
“Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums,
“And dash'd the brains out.”
EDWARD THE MARTYR.
From Radcliffe's ivy mantled towers,
Where “foul deeds rise” in midnight gloom,
To haunt guilt's wakeful, ling'ring hours,
And warn the murd'rer of his doom;
Where “foul deeds rise” in midnight gloom,
To haunt guilt's wakeful, ling'ring hours,
And warn the murd'rer of his doom;
Lewis! from where thy spectres glide,
And sable plumed assassins wait,
Where malice, deck'd in monkish pride,
Allures some victim to her fate;
And sable plumed assassins wait,
Where malice, deck'd in monkish pride,
Allures some victim to her fate;
From, Fuseli! thy touch of fire,
Enthusiastic, madly bold—
Much aid my muse may well require,
For fell a tale as e'er was told.
Enthusiastic, madly bold—
Much aid my muse may well require,
For fell a tale as e'er was told.
96
Elfrida! had wild fiction's page
Thy fiend-like outline dar'd to shew,
This all enlighten'd critic age
Had damn'd the lines that drew thee so!
Thy fiend-like outline dar'd to shew,
This all enlighten'd critic age
Had damn'd the lines that drew thee so!
Reader! howe'er the hardy task
My feeble pen may ill beseem,
Your patience I shall boldly ask,
While I attempt, to tell a Dream.
My feeble pen may ill beseem,
Your patience I shall boldly ask,
While I attempt, to tell a Dream.
Where mould'ring Corfe's antique remains
Attract the passing trav'ler's eye,
Recal the scene of former reigns,
And tell of ages long gone by;
Attract the passing trav'ler's eye,
Recal the scene of former reigns,
And tell of ages long gone by;
With toil and thought my nerves unstrung,
I woo'd repose; old Somnus smiled,
The gale through moss clad fragments sung,
And fancy thus my sense beguil'd:
I woo'd repose; old Somnus smiled,
The gale through moss clad fragments sung,
And fancy thus my sense beguil'd:
Methought the blast grew loud, and long, and keen,
The barren heath grew dark, and wide, and drear,
For shelter scarce a trembling leaf was seen,
And direst noises mock'd th' uncertain ear!
The barren heath grew dark, and wide, and drear,
For shelter scarce a trembling leaf was seen,
And direst noises mock'd th' uncertain ear!
97
And now it seem'd as if the yell
Of Evil Spirits, high in air,
Mix'd with the winds, now, like the knell
From some deep toned sepulchral bell,
Or, as the ling'ring groan of sad despair,
Upon the terror stricken heart it fell,
Yet, what these sounds might bode no living man could tell.
Of Evil Spirits, high in air,
Mix'd with the winds, now, like the knell
From some deep toned sepulchral bell,
Or, as the ling'ring groan of sad despair,
Upon the terror stricken heart it fell,
Yet, what these sounds might bode no living man could tell.
Ne'er did such fearful torrents leave the sky,
Ne'er from such angry clouds did torrents pour,
Ne'er did such light'ning paralize the eye,
Nor ever thunder burst with such indignant roar.
Ne'er from such angry clouds did torrents pour,
Ne'er did such light'ning paralize the eye,
Nor ever thunder burst with such indignant roar.
An hour so dread, a desert place so wild,
Might well the stoutest, firmest, heart subdue,
Convert the soul of manhood to a child,
And with big drops the forehead pale bedew.
Might well the stoutest, firmest, heart subdue,
Convert the soul of manhood to a child,
And with big drops the forehead pale bedew.
Amid the countless wonders of the night,
While sulph'rous flashes breaking o'er the scene
Made “darkness visible,” my startled sight
Beheld a female of majestic mien.
While sulph'rous flashes breaking o'er the scene
Made “darkness visible,” my startled sight
Beheld a female of majestic mien.
98
Dark were her tresses which a blood-stained veil
Confined, a diadem her temple bound,
'Twas more than terrible to hear her wail,
Cold ran my heart's-blood at the mournful sound!
Confined, a diadem her temple bound,
'Twas more than terrible to hear her wail,
Cold ran my heart's-blood at the mournful sound!
“Guilty Elfrida!” was her ceaseless cry,
The breast she beat gave back a hollow groan;
“Guilty Elfrida!” echo made reply,
And nature shook with horrors not her own.
The breast she beat gave back a hollow groan;
“Guilty Elfrida!” echo made reply,
And nature shook with horrors not her own.
Of martyr'd Edward's step-dame 'twas the shade,
(So fancy whisper'd to my fear-struck mind)
Who, nightly thus compell'd, confession made,
Yet from confession no relief might find.
(So fancy whisper'd to my fear-struck mind)
Who, nightly thus compell'd, confession made,
Yet from confession no relief might find.
“Ambition!” shriek'd the form, “thou hateful name,
“Thou worst of evils, cause of all my woe,
“Not less corrosive thy detested flame
“Than fires that scorch my guilty heart below!
“Thou worst of evils, cause of all my woe,
“Not less corrosive thy detested flame
“Than fires that scorch my guilty heart below!
“Sage Peers, of my aspiring hopes aware,
“Opposed me to protect my hapless son,
“That son who should have been a mother's care,
“Became her hate, and we were both undone.
“Opposed me to protect my hapless son,
“That son who should have been a mother's care,
“Became her hate, and we were both undone.
99
“Dunstan,
that sainted hypocrite, conspir'd
“My royal name in disrepute to bring;
“'Twas thirst of pow'r the daring Churchman fir'd,
“I wish'd to rule a State, he ruled a King.
“My royal name in disrepute to bring;
“'Twas thirst of pow'r the daring Churchman fir'd,
“I wish'd to rule a State, he ruled a King.
“Four years my death-devoted step-son reign'd,
“Beloved by most, but least beloved by me,
“His virtue my too vicious aims restrain'd,
“Who from restraint determined to be free.
“Beloved by most, but least beloved by me,
“His virtue my too vicious aims restrain'd,
“Who from restraint determined to be free.
“Foremost of Cavaliers so gay
“Who drove with “hound and horn” the game,
“His train outstript, he came to pay
“His duty to a parent's name.
“Who drove with “hound and horn” the game,
“His train outstript, he came to pay
“His duty to a parent's name.
“Oh, then! what tortures equal mine
“A heart to shew depraved as this!
“Judas! my guilt is next to thine,
“Betraying heaven with a kiss.
“A heart to shew depraved as this!
“Judas! my guilt is next to thine,
“Betraying heaven with a kiss.
“Youth, health, and exercise combined
“With manly beauty deck'd his brow,
“And locks in glossy ringlets twined
“Might charm a vestal from her vow.
“With manly beauty deck'd his brow,
“And locks in glossy ringlets twined
“Might charm a vestal from her vow.
100
“Yet could not these my heart disarm,
“Yet cou'd not these my bosom sway,
“I nerved the shrinking ruffian's arm
“His monarch and my son to slay.
“Yet cou'd not these my bosom sway,
“I nerved the shrinking ruffian's arm
“His monarch and my son to slay.
“Should Infidels to direst foe
“Once 'ope the hospitable door
“The cup a pledge of faith they know,
“They drink, and then are foes no more.
“Once 'ope the hospitable door
“The cup a pledge of faith they know,
“They drink, and then are foes no more.
“But I who stain'd a Christian name,
“In the deceitful cup I gave,
“Forgot my son, my sov'reign's claim,
“And plung'd him in an early grave,
“In the deceitful cup I gave,
“Forgot my son, my sov'reign's claim,
“And plung'd him in an early grave,
“Yet on that day the sun shone bright,
“(That day of most atrocious guilt!)
“Which shou'd have been eclips'd in night,
“Or redden'd like the blood I spilt.
“(That day of most atrocious guilt!)
“Which shou'd have been eclips'd in night,
“Or redden'd like the blood I spilt.
“The sparkling bev'rage from this hand
“He took, and rais'd to drink, when lo!
“A minion of my savage band
“Struck deep the unexpected blow.
“He took, and rais'd to drink, when lo!
“A minion of my savage band
“Struck deep the unexpected blow.
101
“Struggling with death, he turn'd his steed,
“And from me as he urged his way,
“His parting glance the dreadful deed
“Began already to repay.
“And from me as he urged his way,
“His parting glance the dreadful deed
“Began already to repay.
“Not long his hand the curb retains,
“Vainly on absent friends he calls,
“In faint contention with his pains,
“Helpless, the martyr'd Edward falls.
“Vainly on absent friends he calls,
“In faint contention with his pains,
“Helpless, the martyr'd Edward falls.
“Dragg'd by his courser's speed at length
“O'er rudest roads and ways uneven,
“He finds, while losing life and strength,
“A sharp and thorny path to heaven.
“O'er rudest roads and ways uneven,
“He finds, while losing life and strength,
“A sharp and thorny path to heaven.
“And dare I name that place, forbid
“To wretches, pure, compared with me?
“Though plung'd in hell, my crime unhid
“And unatoned must ever be.
“To wretches, pure, compared with me?
“Though plung'd in hell, my crime unhid
“And unatoned must ever be.
“To ev'ry pile my selfish care
“Founded, to compromise the deed,
“My form must nightly now repair,
“Again to see my Edward bleed.
“Founded, to compromise the deed,
“My form must nightly now repair,
“Again to see my Edward bleed.
102
“And where, with mock religious zeal,
“And downcast eye, my arms I cross'd,
“I'm doom'd in genuine woe to feel
“The blood I shed, the heaven I lost!
“And downcast eye, my arms I cross'd,
“I'm doom'd in genuine woe to feel
“The blood I shed, the heaven I lost!
“And hark! a summons deep and drear,
“Unlike each sound of mortal ken,
“Warns me no more to linger here,
“But hence, and count my crimes again.”
“Unlike each sound of mortal ken,
“Warns me no more to linger here,
“But hence, and count my crimes again.”
And deep and drear the summons came,
The spectre fled, the charm was broke,
And (haply you may be the same),
Right glad was I when I awoke.
The spectre fled, the charm was broke,
And (haply you may be the same),
Right glad was I when I awoke.
| A Metrical History of England | |