 | The Poetical Works of Robert Story |  |
The Ancient Barons.
1836.
[_]
[“Nolumus leges Angliæ mutari!” was the patriotic declaration of the Ancient Barons to King John. This lyric has been set to music by J. P. Knight.]
The ancient Barons of the land
Composed a haughty ring,
When—mail on breast and blade in hand—
They stood before the King;
And, dauntless in their country's cause,
Their high resolve avowed—
“We will not that old England's laws
Be changed by court or crowd!
Composed a haughty ring,
When—mail on breast and blade in hand—
They stood before the King;
And, dauntless in their country's cause,
Their high resolve avowed—
“We will not that old England's laws
Be changed by court or crowd!
244
“In other lands, at slightest shock,
The civil fabric falls;
In ours, eternal as the rock,
It rears its massive walls;
A barrier to convulsion forms,
Firm as our Island's shore,
Which has rolled back ten thousand storms,
And will ten thousand more!
The civil fabric falls;
In ours, eternal as the rock,
It rears its massive walls;
A barrier to convulsion forms,
Firm as our Island's shore,
Which has rolled back ten thousand storms,
And will ten thousand more!
“To guaid its towers from age to age,
Brave men their last have breathed;
To us, as our best heritage,
It was by them bequeathed.
And, mark us, Sire! to its defence
Our arms—our lives—we vow;
And it may fall in ages hence—
We Swear it shall not now!”
Brave men their last have breathed;
To us, as our best heritage,
It was by them bequeathed.
And, mark us, Sire! to its defence
Our arms—our lives—we vow;
And it may fall in ages hence—
We Swear it shall not now!”
They kept their oath, those gallant men!
The structure still is ours,
Though twice three hundred years since then
Have overswept its towers.
A glorious barrier still it forms,
Firm as our Island's shoie,
Which has rolled back ten thousand storms,
And shall ten thousand more!
The structure still is ours,
Though twice three hundred years since then
Have overswept its towers.
A glorious barrier still it forms,
Firm as our Island's shoie,
Which has rolled back ten thousand storms,
And shall ten thousand more!
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