University of Virginia Library

LINES SUGGESTED BY A DRAWING OF TURNBERRY CASTLE.

Old ruin, that above the foaming surge
Standest, begirt with storms, though Time has stolen
Thy once proud strength away, and with the dust,
Levell'd thy lofty battlements,—though now
Within thy courts the rank, wild grass is growing,
And desolate echoes have usurp'd the sounds
Of harp and festal song, a mightier charm
Hangs round the wreck of thy magnificence,
Than graced it in the palmy days of old.
Halls of De Bruce, whence from its ashes rose
The phœnix Liberty, and spread abroad,
Its joy-plumed pinion o'er the rescued land,—
Birth-place of him, who staunch and true of heart,
Battled with tyranny, and from the grasp
Of England's usurpation, boldly pluck'd
The circlet of his nation's sovereignty;—
Cradle of patriotism! heroic deeds,
And deathless memories, and a people's love,
Have set their seal upon thy rifted walls,
And hallow'd them for ever! To all time,
Thy name, with his, who made thee what thou art,
Shall be a watchword, rousing to high deeds
The spirits of the brave.—Tyrants shall blench
When thou art named, and aged men shall pay
A tribute, in their children's reverence.
Then rear thy head, old ruin, haughtily,
Above the foaming surge! thou may'st defy
The very lightning as it dashes down
Thy crumbling fragments.—Time may undermine,
The storm may ravage, but when every stone
Is swept from its foundation, thou wilt leave
Behind thee, in the minds of noble men,
A memory, neither storm nor time shall rase.