 | Household Verses |  |
195
FRAMLINGHAM CASTLE.
Fallen as thou art, dismantled pile!
From thy once palmy state;
Thy ruins may outlast a while
Splendours of later date.
From thy once palmy state;
Thy ruins may outlast a while
Splendours of later date.
Still stand thy battlemented towers,
Firm as in by-gone years;
As if within yet ruled the powers
Of England's haughtiest peers.
Firm as in by-gone years;
As if within yet ruled the powers
Of England's haughtiest peers.
Since thou, by kings or nobles proud,
Wert first upreared and swayed,
Piles grand as thou their heads have bowed
In dark oblivion's shade:
Wert first upreared and swayed,
Piles grand as thou their heads have bowed
In dark oblivion's shade:
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And glittering structures, richly dight,
Have, long since thy decline,
Crumbled away, and left no site
Their memory to enshrine.
Have, long since thy decline,
Crumbled away, and left no site
Their memory to enshrine.
But thou, at least to distant view,
Still bear'st a gallant form;
Thy canopy—heaven's vault of blue,
Or crest—the lowering storm.
Still bear'st a gallant form;
Thy canopy—heaven's vault of blue,
Or crest—the lowering storm.
Still upon moat and mere below
Thine ivied towers look down;
And far their giant shadows throw
With feudal grandeur's frown.
Thine ivied towers look down;
And far their giant shadows throw
With feudal grandeur's frown.
And though thy star for aye be set,
Thy glory past and gone,
Fancy might deem thine inmate yet
Bigod! or Brotherton!
Thy glory past and gone,
Fancy might deem thine inmate yet
Bigod! or Brotherton!
Or Howard brave, who fought and died
On Bosworth's bloody field;
Or bigot Mary, who the tide
Of martyr-blood unsealed!
On Bosworth's bloody field;
Or bigot Mary, who the tide
Of martyr-blood unsealed!
197
Such were thine inmates! Who are
left
As dwellers in thy hold?
The abject, and the hope-bereft,
The helpless, poor, and old!
As dwellers in thy hold?
The abject, and the hope-bereft,
The helpless, poor, and old!
Yet, haply, among these may be
Some, to the world unknown,
Who hold a higher hope in fee,
Than Mary on her throne!
Some, to the world unknown,
Who hold a higher hope in fee,
Than Mary on her throne!
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