The Poems of Winthrop Mackworth Praed With a Memoir by the Rev. Derwent Coleridge. Fourth Edition. In Two Volumes |
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| VIII. | VIII. KNIGHTHOOD |
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 | The Poems of Winthrop Mackworth Praed |  |
394
VIII. KNIGHTHOOD
Alas for that forgotten day
When Chivalry was nourished,
When none but friars learned to pray,
And beef and beauty flourished,
And fraud in kings was held accurst,
And falsehood sin was reckoned,
And mighty cnargers bore my First,
And fat monks wore my Second!
When Chivalry was nourished,
When none but friars learned to pray,
And beef and beauty flourished,
And fraud in kings was held accurst,
And falsehood sin was reckoned,
And mighty cnargers bore my First,
And fat monks wore my Second!
Oh then I carried sword and shield,
And casque with flaunting feather
And earned my spurs in battle field,
In winter and rough weather;
And polished many a sonnet up
To ladies' eyes and tresses,
And learned to drain my father's cup,
And loose my falcon's jesses.
And casque with flaunting feather
And earned my spurs in battle field,
In winter and rough weather;
And polished many a sonnet up
To ladies' eyes and tresses,
And learned to drain my father's cup,
And loose my falcon's jesses.
How grand was I in olden days!
How gilded o'er with glory!
The happy mark of ladies' praise,
The theme of minstrels' story;
Unmoved by fearful accidents,
All hardships stoutly spurning,
I laughed to scorn the elements—
And chiefly those of Learning.
How gilded o'er with glory!
The happy mark of ladies' praise,
The theme of minstrels' story;
395
All hardships stoutly spurning,
I laughed to scorn the elements—
And chiefly those of Learning.
Such things have vanished like a dream;
The mongrel mob grows prouder;
And every thing is done by steam,
And men are killed by powder:
I feel, alas! my fame decay;
I give unheeded orders,
And rot in paltry state away,
With Sheriffs and Recorders.
The mongrel mob grows prouder;
And every thing is done by steam,
And men are killed by powder:
I feel, alas! my fame decay;
I give unheeded orders,
And rot in paltry state away,
With Sheriffs and Recorders.
| The Poems of Winthrop Mackworth Praed | |