The poetical works of Robert Stephen Hawker Edited from the original manuscripts and annotated copies together with a prefatory notice and bibliography by Alfred Wallis |
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DUPATH WELL. |
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 | The poetical works of Robert Stephen Hawker |  |
DUPATH WELL.
Hear how the noble Siward died!
The Leech hath told the woeful bride
'Tis vain: his passing hour is nigh,
And death must quench her warrior's eye.
The Leech hath told the woeful bride
'Tis vain: his passing hour is nigh,
And death must quench her warrior's eye.
“Bring me,” he said, “the steel I wore
When Dupath spring was dark with gore,
The spear I raised for Githa's glove,
Those trophies of my wars and love.”
When Dupath spring was dark with gore,
The spear I raised for Githa's glove,
Those trophies of my wars and love.”
Upright he sate within the bed,
The helm on his unyielding head:
Sternly he lean'd upon his spear,
He knew his passing hour was near.
The helm on his unyielding head:
Sternly he lean'd upon his spear,
He knew his passing hour was near.
“Githa! thine hand!” how wild that cry,
How fiercely glared his flashing eye;
“Sound! herald!” was his shout of pride:
Hear how the noble Siward died!
How fiercely glared his flashing eye;
“Sound! herald!” was his shout of pride:
Hear how the noble Siward died!
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A roof must shade that storied stream,
Her dying lord's remember'd theme;
A daily vow that lady said
Where glory wreath'd the hero dead.
Her dying lord's remember'd theme;
A daily vow that lady said
Where glory wreath'd the hero dead.
Gaze, maiden, gaze on Dupath Well,
Time yet hath spar'd that solemn cell—
In memory of old love and pride:
Hear how the noble Siward died.
Time yet hath spar'd that solemn cell—
In memory of old love and pride:
Hear how the noble Siward died.
March 2, 1832.
Dupath Spring gushes at the foot of Hingston Tor. Its waters flow through the arched door of a granite cell; and, like most of the guarded wells of our country, “it hath a meaning,” which I have endeavoured to record. Goetz of the Iron Hand and other warriors imitated in after times the death of Siward.
| The poetical works of Robert Stephen Hawker | |