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HADDON HALL.
Haddon! beneath thy dark walls frowning,
Which but the ghostly Ivy's crowning,
I muse upon the past!
Thou breath'st of old heroic story,
Legends of love and martial glory,
Of things too bright to last.
Which but the ghostly Ivy's crowning,
I muse upon the past!
Thou breath'st of old heroic story,
Legends of love and martial glory,
Of things too bright to last.
6
How did the Knights, with bold endeavour,
Here hand to hand, despairing never,
Dispute the radiant prize—
And royal banquets cheered them after,
Where all was song, and mirth, and laughter,
And light from ladye's eyes.
Here hand to hand, despairing never,
Dispute the radiant prize—
And royal banquets cheered them after,
Where all was song, and mirth, and laughter,
And light from ladye's eyes.
Then from the dais proud and splendid
To where the lengthened board was ended,
All, all—was glee and cheer—
Peasant and follower hastened hither,
The vassal and his lord together
Feasted as pheer with pheer.
To where the lengthened board was ended,
All, all—was glee and cheer—
Peasant and follower hastened hither,
The vassal and his lord together
Feasted as pheer with pheer.
Of old these grass-grown courts resounded,
These wild-weed terraces abounded
With movement and with mirth,
Of music and of merry doings,
Of courteous words, and courtly wooings,
There was no lack nor dearth.
These wild-weed terraces abounded
With movement and with mirth,
Of music and of merry doings,
Of courteous words, and courtly wooings,
There was no lack nor dearth.
7
Forth from these gates did ofttimes sally
The Falconer, clad in green suit gaily,
With hawk upon his fist—
While Ladye bright, paced slow and wary,
With tassel gentle, light, and airy,
Placed on her dazzling wrist.
The Falconer, clad in green suit gaily,
With hawk upon his fist—
While Ladye bright, paced slow and wary,
With tassel gentle, light, and airy,
Placed on her dazzling wrist.
The Ladye bright the sport attended
On palfrey decked with housings splendid,
And made her stately way
Through the proud knightly crowd admiring,
Each to a beamy smile aspiring,
Which shone with heavenly ray.
On palfrey decked with housings splendid,
And made her stately way
Through the proud knightly crowd admiring,
Each to a beamy smile aspiring,
Which shone with heavenly ray.
How did the gallant hawk soar proudly,
While deepened long and echoed loudly
The cheery à le vol!—
Each heart with expectation fluttered,
Each lip the cry—the challenge uttered,
It stirred the very soul!
While deepened long and echoed loudly
The cheery à le vol!—
Each heart with expectation fluttered,
Each lip the cry—the challenge uttered,
It stirred the very soul!
8
Haddon! thy bright days are departed,
And one unblessed and mournful-hearted
Sighs in congenial sort;
O'er thy dark walls and terrace lonely,
Where sport the bat and raven only,
And o'er thy grass-grown court.
And one unblessed and mournful-hearted
Sighs in congenial sort;
O'er thy dark walls and terrace lonely,
Where sport the bat and raven only,
And o'er thy grass-grown court.
The Heart midst scenes thus silent muses—
Ah! Ruins have their hallowed uses,
And point, and prompt, and preach
To stabler states—of surer seasons—
When Time shall cease his haughty treasons,
And much they mark and teach.
Ah! Ruins have their hallowed uses,
And point, and prompt, and preach
To stabler states—of surer seasons—
When Time shall cease his haughty treasons,
And much they mark and teach.
They teach, with mouldering towers and portals,
How vain the work of mould'ring mortals,
How fleeting their estate—
They nothing of the truth dissemble,
But show us, while they sink and tremble,
Our Future and our Fate.
How vain the work of mould'ring mortals,
How fleeting their estate—
They nothing of the truth dissemble,
But show us, while they sink and tremble,
Our Future and our Fate.
9
But can we, on such subjects dwelling,
When heavily the heart is swelling,
Our loftier hopes forget?
Can we forget this truth transcendant,
That ours may be Heaven's realms resplendent,
When this Life's sun is set?
When heavily the heart is swelling,
Our loftier hopes forget?
Can we forget this truth transcendant,
That ours may be Heaven's realms resplendent,
When this Life's sun is set?
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