 | Household Verses |  |
140
VERSES,
SUGGESTED BY A VERY CURIOUS OLD ROOM AT THE TANKARD, IPSWICH.
Such were the rooms in which of yore
Our ancestors were wont to dwell;
And still of fashions known no more
Even these lingering relics tell.
Our ancestors were wont to dwell;
And still of fashions known no more
Even these lingering relics tell.
The oaken wainscot, richly graced
With gay festoons of mimic flowers;
Armorial bearings, half effaced,
All speak of proud and long-past hours.
With gay festoons of mimic flowers;
Armorial bearings, half effaced,
All speak of proud and long-past hours.
The ceiling, quaintly carved and groined,
With pendent pediments reversed,
A by-gone age recalls to mind,
Whose glories song hath oft rehearsed.
With pendent pediments reversed,
A by-gone age recalls to mind,
Whose glories song hath oft rehearsed.
141
And true, though trite, the moral taught,
Well worthy of the poet's rhyme,
By all that can impress on thought
The changes made by chance and time.
Well worthy of the poet's rhyme,
By all that can impress on thought
The changes made by chance and time.
These tell “a plain,
unvarnished tale”
Of wealth's decline, and pride's decay,
Nor less unto the mind unveil
Those things which cannot pass away!
Of wealth's decline, and pride's decay,
Nor less unto the mind unveil
Those things which cannot pass away!
And truths which no attention wake
When poets sing, or parsons teach,
Perchance may some impression make,
When thus a public-house may preach!
When poets sing, or parsons teach,
Perchance may some impression make,
When thus a public-house may preach!
| Household Verses | |