Sketches in verse :: :: University of Virginia Library

O say, what mean those splendors that illume
Half the solitary plain—
That with a yellow stream the rock distain,
Breaking thro' the midnight gloom?
See, Carnbre! the effulgence spread
In circles round thy monumental head;
And, o'er yon' emerging grove
Behold, with shadowy trail, the gradual glory move.

102

II

“Say, doth some spirit bid the desart hoar
Kindle into joy again?
Alas! the radiance of delight were vain,
While their hallow'd names, no more,
Pale Cornubia's worthies boast,
But oft in stillness glides the shivering ghost,
Pointing to dismantled walls
Which once were castle-towers, and harp-reechoing halls.

III

Where now thy pristine grandeur, old Lanherne?
Where thy storied gallery, bright
With blazon'd hues—thy fretted roof's proud height?
Prostrate amid matted fern
Arches grey and pillars gleam;
While from on high, the darkling owlets scream,
As, across their secret nest,
The gale shrill whistling shakes the turret's ivy-vest.

103

IV

Ah! where, Caerhayes! thy patriot sons were nurst,
Deep the shades of silence brood—
Where flow'd thro' generous veins, Trevanion's blood!
Where, Arwenack! wont to burst
Thro' thy groves the festal song,
Low whispers die, the quivering boughs among,
And, oft, tremulous on the main,
A moaning voice recalls the chief untimely slain.

V

And ah! Godolphin! what rude hands profane
Haunts to warriors whilom dear,
And, in thy spectred gloom, the pageant rear?
Faint is each armorial pane!
Pensile, whilst the dinted shield,
The casque, wide-rifted in the sanguine field,
And the heavy-rusted mail,
Sigh to the tapstried walls and each dim hero hail.

104

VI

And, Carminow! where now thy knightly days?
Days that my rapt soul entrance;
That, as the floating visions of romance,
Re-appear, in magic rays!
See the sculptur'd chief repose
Where the dank fane its charnel horror throws:
Gleam his hollow eyes of stone—
Hah! from the broken tomb I heard a chilling groan!”

VII

But whither does my frenzied fancy stray?—
—More distinguish'd glows the rock;
Starting as from a necromantic stroke
Trembles all thy pile, Carnbre!
Sudden from the chasmed ground
A spirit rises, with the topaz crown'd!
Flames his helmet! I behold
His amber-clustering hair, his ermin'd robe of gold.

105

VIII

“Why, drooping in the dust (the spirit cries)
“Cornwall's faded honors mourn?
“Why o'er the relics of the crumbling urn,
“Pour a waste of sullen sighs?
“In this form—these ensigns trace
“The high protector of the Basset-race!
“Lo, the illustrious task was mine
“From Norman William's days, to guard the princely line.

IX

“'Twas their's, to valorous Reginald allied,
“Foremost of the good and great,
“To gild with virtue's beams their banner'd state!

106

“Theirs, to check the rebel stride
“Over hills with carnage red—
“To rear the royal flag, while others fled!
“Yet survey my favourite son!—
“Here meets the splendid worth of many a chief in one!

X

“Yes—when insulting round Cornubia's coast,
“Gather'd dark, the Gallic foe;
“Twas his to shield his country from the blow—
“His, to scorn the hovering host!
“And where, late, the dastard train
“Caught traitorous murmurs wasted o'er the main;
“Where they scowl'd, a demon-band,
“He rais'd the avenging arm, and quench'd the sulphur'd brand.

107

XI

And lo! that zeal, which, where Sedition gloom'd,
“Dar'd the lurking fiend arrest,
“And to the sun laid bare her serpent crest,
“Heaven-sprung genius hath illum'd!—
“Genius, that the claims of birth
“Exalting, and hereditary worth
“Rescuing from ephemeral rage,
“Flows ardent from his tongue, and lightens thro' his page.

XII

“Such—Such is he, whose high Baronial name,
“Albion, hastening to enroll
“With those, who triumph in the expanded soul,
“Consecrates to deathless Fame!

108

“Nor Dunstanville wakes in vain
“Cornubia's dormant energies again,
“Kindling to her utmost down
“The heroic ardor lost, the pride of old renown.

XIII

“Then mourn not Cornwall's desolated domes—
“Look not, where pale Auster lifts
“His billows, dashing the lone-castled clifts—
“Clifts, immerst in fairy glooms!
“Other battlements, that tower'd
“In elder times, still rise in woods embower'd!
“Other mansions yet revere!
“But chief yon sacred Park to ancient honor dear!”

The Basset family is connected with Dunstanville by the marriage of Thomas Basset, Lord of Burcester in Oxfordshire, 25th of Henry 2nd, with Cecilia, daughter of Alan de Dunstanville of Tehidy, son of Reginald de Dunstanville by Ursula, daughter and coheir of Reginald Fitzhenry, Earl of Cornwall.

On this emergency, Devonshire had equal reason to applaud the services of Mr. Bastard.

Alluding to his exemplary conduct during the late insurrection of the Cornish Miners. To his manly exertions amidst the general ferment, and his spirited perseverance in bringing a rioter to condign punishment, we owe the preservation of our property and our lives!

Doubtless, “other mansions!” Nor let me be accused of disrespect to the families that are passed in silence, whilst I particularize the houses of Mount Edgcumbe, of Clowance, of Trelowarren, of Menabilly, of Trewarthenack; the representatives of which are all distinguished by a genuine “nobility of mind!”