Gerard's Monument And Other Poems. By Emily Pfeiffer: 2nd Ed., Revised and Enlarged |
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 | Gerard's Monument |  |
The keep was tottering to its fall,
But ivy clamped the broken wall,—
Granite with amber lichen crusted,—
A tower of steel the damp had rusted.
And they who had dwelt in the ancient place
Had long been held for an unthrift race;
They loved the weak, nor feared the strong;
The rich they helped when in the right,
The poor they served in any case;
And, ready to aid them with their might,
Were eager to shield them with their grace;
And so they came to live in song,
And die from out their ancient place.
But ivy clamped the broken wall,—
Granite with amber lichen crusted,—
A tower of steel the damp had rusted.
And they who had dwelt in the ancient place
Had long been held for an unthrift race;
They loved the weak, nor feared the strong;
The rich they helped when in the right,
The poor they served in any case;
And, ready to aid them with their might,
Were eager to shield them with their grace;
And so they came to live in song,
And die from out their ancient place.
19
Three tall brothers lay in the crypt,
They had gone to fight in a far-off land;
Their bodies from over the sea were shipped,
While the tearless parents stood on the strand.
They held each other by the hand,
And kissed each son upon the cheek;
I wis they hardly looked more grand
As they followed them home within the week,
Borne at the head of a mourning train,
And never to come that way again.
They had gone to fight in a far-off land;
Their bodies from over the sea were shipped,
While the tearless parents stood on the strand.
They held each other by the hand,
And kissed each son upon the cheek;
I wis they hardly looked more grand
As they followed them home within the week,
Borne at the head of a mourning train,
And never to come that way again.
| Gerard's Monument | |