The poetical works of John Nicholson ... Carefully edited from the original editions, with additional notes and a sketch of his life and writings. By W. G. Hird |
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 | The poetical works of John Nicholson |  |
67
The haughty conquered, not by skill or power,
But by superior numbers gained the day,
While braver youths were driven far away;
Youths, who their triple number often met,
And fought till all their swords with gore were wet.
Dacres and Lambton fell upon that day,
And Slingsly's noble soul was sent away;
Fenwick was lost, and Luddon was no more,
And Gledhill's corpse was scarcely known for gore.
Meetham, the brave, the loyal volunteer,
Heaved his last breath for his loved monarch there;
Then with near thirty wounds brave Graham bled,
Who never in the fiercest contest fled;
To Norton Hall his warriors bear him slow—
Then what a scene of undescribed woe!
I hear his lady's sighs—she cannot weep—
Hope, love, despair, sink in her bosom deep;
The bleeding stops—she hopes her lord will live,
And for his life would every blessing give.
Now a bright beam is lighted in his eyes,
Then pale, the brave, the dauntless Graham sighs!
The statues of the ancients ne'er could show
Such silent grief, such eloquence of woe,
As in his lady's features were exprest,
When the last struggle shook her warrior's breast;
When the last kiss inhaled the parting breath,
And all she loved on earth was still in death!
68
With noiseless feet, and look into the room,
To hear their master's voice, or once behold
The features of the loyal, brave, the bold;
But these no more behold his piercing eyes—
The only sounds are broken-hearted sighs
Of his sad widow, in wild agony,
In fervent prayer, that death would set her free.
Boast not, usurping Cromwell, o'er the dead—
With half his wounds thy bravest knights had fled.
| The poetical works of John Nicholson | |