THE CASTLE. So both a safety from the wind "Tis now the raven's bleak abode ; Has seen this broken pile complete, Big with the vanity of state. But transient is the smile of Fate! A little rule, a little sway, A sunbeam in a winter's day, Is all the proud and mighty have Between the cradle and the grave. JOHN DYER. THE CASTLE. T stood embosomed in a happy valley, Crowned by high woodlands, where the druid oak His host, with broad arms gainst the thunder-stroke; And from beneath his boughs were seen to sally The dappled foresters as day awoke, 82 THE CASTLE. The branching stag swept down with all his herd, Before the mansion lay a lucid lake, Broad as transparent, deep and freshly fed In currents through the calmer waters spread And sedges, brooding in their liquid bed : Its outlet dashed into a deep cascade Sparkling with foam, until again subsiding Pursued its course, now gleaming, and now hiding BYRON. |