The Banks of Wye Part 4

A tower without a dinner bell; An arch where jav'lin'd centries bow'd Low to their chief, or fed the croud, Are all that mark where once a train Of _barons_ grac'd thy rich domain, Ill.u.s.trious PEMBROKE[1]! drain'd thy bowl, [Footnote 1: Part of the original palace of the powerful Earls of Pembroke is still undemolished by time.]

And caught the n.o.bleness of soul The harp-inspir'd, indignant blood That prompts to arms and hardihood.

To muse upon the days gone by, Where desolation meets the eye, Is double life; truth, cheaply bought, The nurse of sense, the food of thought, Whence judgment, ripen'd, forms, at will, Her estimates of good or ill; And brings contrasted scenes to view, And weighs the _old_ rogues with the _new_; Imperious tyrants, gone to dust, With tyrants whom the world hath curs'd Through modern ages. By what power Rose the strong walls of old THE TOWER?

Deep in the valley, whose clear rill Then stole through wilds, and wanders still Through village shades, unstain'd with gore, Where war-steeds bathe their hoofs no more.

Empires have fallen, armies bled, Since yon old wall, with upright head, Met the loud tempest; who can trace When first the rude ma.s.s, from its base, Stoop'd in that dreadful form? E'en thou, JANE, with the placid silver brow, Know'st not the day, though thou hast seen An hundred[1] springs of cheerful green, [Footnote 1: Jane Edwards, or as she p.r.o.nounced it, _Etwarts_, a tall, bony, upright woman, leaning both hands on the head of her stick, and in her manners venerably impressive, was then at the age of one hundred. She was living in 1809, then one hundred and two.]

An hundred winters' snows increase That brook, the emblem of thy peace.

Most venerable dame! and shall The plund'rer, in his gorgeous hall, His fame, with Moloch-frown prefer, And scorn _thy_ harmless character?

Who scarcely hear'st of his renown, And never sack'd nor burnt a town; But should he crave, with coward cries, To be Jane Edwards when he dies, Thou'lt be the conqueror, old la.s.s, So take thy alms, and let us pa.s.s.

FORTH from the calm sequester'd shade, Once more approaching twilight bade; When, as the sigh of joy arose, And while e'en fancy sought repose, One vast transcendent object sprung, Arresting every eye and tongue; Strangers, fair BRECON, wondering, scan The peaks of thy stupendous VANN: But how can strangers, chain'd by time, Through floating clouds his summit climb?

Another day had almost fled; A clear horizon, glowing red, Its promise on all hearts impress'd, Bright sunny hours, and Sabbath rest.

END OF THE THIRD BOOK.

BOOK IV.

CONTENTS OF BOOK IV.

The Gaer, a Roman Station.--Brunless Castle.--The Hay.--Funeral Song, "Mary's Grave."--Clifford Castle.--Return by Hereford, Malvern Hills, Cheltenham, and Gloucester, to Uley.--Conclusion.

_BOOK IV_.

'Tis sweet to hear the soothing chime, And, by thanksgiving, measure time; When hard-wrought poverty awhile Upheaves the bending back to smile; When servants hail, with boundless glee, The sweets of love and liberty; For guiltless love will ne'er disown The cheerful Sunday's market town, Clean, silent, when his power's confess'd, And trade's contention lull'd to rest.

Seldom has wors.h.i.+p cheer'd my soul With such invincible controul!

It was a bright benignant hour, The song of praise was full of power; And, darting from the noon-day sky, Amidst the tide of harmony, O'er aisle and pillar glancing strong, Heav'ns radiant light inspir'd the song.

The word of peace, that can disarm Care with its own peculiar charm, Here flow'd a double stream, to cheer The Saxon[1] and the Mountaineer, [Footnote 1: Divine service is performed alternately in English and Welsh.

That they still call us Saxons, need hardly be mentioned. I observed the army to be equally as accommodating as the church, for the posting-bills, for recruits, are printed in both languages.]

Of various stock, of various name, Now join'd in rites, and join'd in fame.

YE who religion's duty teach, What const.i.tutes a Sabbath breach?

Is it, when joy the bosom fills, To wander o'er the breezy hills?

Is it, to trace around your home The footsteps of imperial Rome?

Then guilty, guilty let us plead, Who, on the cheerful rested steed, In thought absorb'd, explor'd, with care, The wild lanes round the silent GAER[1], [Footnote 1: A road must have led from Abergavenny, through the Vale of the Usk, north-west to the "Gaer," situated two miles north-west of Brecon, on a gentle eminence, at the conflux of the rivers Esker and Usk.

Mr. Wyndham traced parts of walls, which he describes as exactly resembling those at Caerleon; and Mr. Lemon found several bricks, bearing the inscription of LEG. II. AVG.--_c.o.xe_.

In addition to the above, it may be acceptable to state, that Mr. Price, a very intelligent farmer on the spot, has in his possession several of the above kind of bricks, bearing the same inscription, done, evidently, by stamping the clay, while moist, with an instrument. These have been turned up by the plough, together with several small Roman lamps.]

Where conqu'ring eagles took their stand; Where heathen altars stain'd the land; Where soldiers of AUGUSTUS pin'd, Perhaps, for pleasures left behind, And measur'd, from this lone abode, The new-form'd, stoney, forest road, Back to CAERLEON'S southern train, Their barks, their home, beyond the main; Still by the VANN reminded strong Of Alpine scenes, and mountain song, The olive groves, and cloudless sky, And golden vales of Italy.

[Ill.u.s.tration: VAN MOUNTAIN, near BRECKNOCK from the PRIORY WOODS.]

With us 'twas peace, we met no foes; With us far diff'rent feelings rose.

Still onward inclination bade; The wilds of MONA'S Druid shade, SNOWDON'S sublime and stormy brow, His land of Britons stretch'd below, And PENMAN MAWR'S huge crags, that greet The thund'ring ocean at his feet, Were all before us. Hard it prov'd, To quit a land so dearly lov'd; Forego each bold terrific boast Of northern Cambria's giant coast.

Friends of the harp and song, forgive The deep regret that, whilst I live, Shall dwell upon my heart and tongue; Go, joys untasted, themes unsung, Another scene, another land, Hence shall the homeward verse demand.

Yet fancy wove her flow'ry chain, Till "farewell BRECON" left a pain; A pain that travellers may endure, Change is their food, and change their cure.

Yet, oh, how dream-like, far away, To recollect so bright a day!

Dream-like those scenes the townsmen love, Their tumbling USK, their PRIORY GROVE, View'd while the moon cheer'd, calmly bright, The freshness of a summer's night.

HIGH o'er the town, in morning smiles, The blue VANN heav'd his deep defiles; And rang'd, like champions for the fight, Basking in sun-beams on our right, Rose the BLACK MOUNTAINS, that surround That far-fam'd spot of holy ground, LLANTHONY, dear to monkish tale, And still the pride of EWAIS VALE.

No road-side cottage smoke was seen, Or rarely, on the village green No youths appear'd, in spring-tide dress, In ardent play, or idleness.

Brown way'd the harvest, dale and slope Exulting bore a nation's hope; Sheaves rose as far as sight could range, And every mile was but a change Of peasants lab'ring, lab'ring still, And climbing many a distant hill.

Some talk'd, perhaps, of spring's bright hour, And how they pil'd, in BRUNLESS TOWER [1], [Footnote 1: The only remaining tower of Brunless Castle now makes an excellent hay-loft; and almost every building on the spot is composed of fragments.]

The full-dried hay. Perhaps they told Tradition's tales, and taught how old The ruin'd castle! False or true, They guess it, just as others do.

Lone tower! though suffer'd yet to stand, Dilapidation's wasting hand Shall tear thy pond'rous walls, to guard The slumb'ring steed, or fence the yard; Or wheels shall grind thy pride away Along the turnpike road to HAY, Where fierce GLENDOW'R'S rude mountaineers Left war's attendants, blood and tears, And spread their terrors many a mile, And shouted round the flaming pile.

May heav'n preserve our native land From blind ambition's murdering hand; From all the wrongs that can provoke A people's wrath, and urge the stroke That shakes the proudest throne! Guard, heav'n.

The sacred birth-right thou hast given; Bid justice curb, with strong controul, The desp'rate pa.s.sions of the soul.

Here ivy'd fragments, lowering, throw Broad shadows on the poor below, Who, while they rest, and when they die, Sleep on the rock-built sh.o.r.es of WYE.

To tread o'er nameless mounds of earth, To muse upon departed worth, To credit still the poor distress'd, For feelings never half express'd, Their hopes, their faith, their tender love, Faith that sustain'd, and hope that strove, Is sacred joy; to heave a sigh, A debt to poor mortality.

Funereal rites are clos'd; 'tis done; Ceas'd is the bell; the priest is gone; What then if bust or stone denies To catch the pensive loit'rer's eyes, What course can poverty pursue?

What can the _poor_ pretend to do?

O boast not, quarries, of your store; Boast not, O man, of wealth or lore, The flowers of nature here shall thrive, Affection keep those flowers alive; And they shall strike the melting heart, Beyond the utmost power of art; Planted on graves[1], their stems entwine, And every blossom is a line [Footnote 1: To the custom of scattering flowers over the graves of departed friends, David ap Gw.i.l.l.ym beautifully alludes in one of his odes.

"O whilst thy season of flowers, and thy tender sprays thick of leaves remain, I will pluck the roses from the brakes, the flowerets of the meads, and gems of the wood; the vivid trefoil, beauties of the ground, and the gaily-smiling bloom of the verdant herbs, to be offered to the memory of a chief of fairest fame. Humbly will I lay them on the grave of Iver."

On a grave in the church-yard at Hay, or the Hay, as it is commonly spoken, flowers had evidently been _planted_, but only one solitary sprig of sweet-briar had taken root.]

Indelibly impress'd, that tends, In more than language comprehends, To teach us, in our solemn hours, That we ourselves are dying flowers.

What if a father buried here His earthly hope, his friend most dear, His only child? Shall his dim eye, At poverty's command, be dry?

No, he shall muse, and think, and pray, And weep his tedious hours away; Or weave the song of woe to tell, How dear that child he lov'd so well.

MARY'S GRAVE.

No child have I left, I must wander alone, No light-hearted Mary to sing as I go, Nor loiter to gather bright flowers newly blown, She delighted, sweet maid, in these emblems of woe.

Then the stream glided by her, or playfully boil'd O'er its rock-bed unceasing, and still it goes free; But her infant life was arrested, unsoil'd As the dew-drop when shook by the wing of the bee.

Sweet flowers were her treasures, and flowers shall be mine; I bring them from Radnor's green hills to her grave; Thus planted in anguish, oh let them entwine O'er a heart once as gentle as heav'n e'er gave.

Oh, the glance of her eye, when at mansions of wealth I pointed, suspicious, and warn'd her of harm; She smil'd in content, 'midst the bloom of her health, And closer and closer still hung on my arm.

What boots it to tell of the sense she possess'd, The fair buds of promise that mem'ry endears?

The mild dove, affection, was queen of her breast, And I had her love, and her truth, and her tears; She was mine. But she goes to the land of the good, A change which I must, and yet dare not deplore; I'll bear the rude shock like the oak of the wood, But the green hills of Radnor will charm me no more.

RUINS of greatness, all farewell; No Chepstows here, no Raglands tell, By mound, or foss, or mighty tower, Achievements high in hall or bower; Or give to fancy's vivid eye, The helms and plumes of chivalry.

CLIFFORD has fall'n, howe'er sublime, Mere fragments wrestle still with time; Yet as they perish, sure and slow, And rolling dash the stream below, They raise tradition's glowing scene, The clue of silk, the wrathful queen, And link, in mem'ry's firmest bond, The love-lorn tale of Rosamond[1].

[Footnote 1: Clifford Castle is supposed to have been the birth place of Fair Rosamond.]

How placid, how divinely sweet, The flow'r-grown brook that, by our feet, Winds on a summer's day; e'en where Its name no cla.s.sic honours share, Its springs untrac'd, its course unknown, Seaward for ever rambling down!

Here, then, how sweet, pelucid, chaste; 'Twas this bright current bade us taste The fulness of its joy. Glide still, Enchantress of PLYNLIMON HILL, Meandering WYE! Still let me dream, In raptures, o'er thy infant stream; For could th' immortal soul forego Its c.u.mbrous load of earthly woe, And clothe itself in fairy guise, Too small, too pure, for human eyes, Blithe would we seek thy utmost spring, Where mountain-larks first try the wing; There, at the crimson dawn of day, Launch a scoop'd leaf, and sail away, Stretch'd at our ease, or crouch below, Or climb the green transparent prow, Stooping where oft the blue bell sips The pa.s.sing stream, and shakes and dips; And when the heifer came to drink, Quick from the gale our bark would shrink, And huddle down amidst the brawl Of many a five-inch waterfall, Till the expanse should fairly give The bow'ring hazel room to live; And as each swelling junction came, To form a riv'let worth a name, We'd dart beneath, or brush away Long-beaded webs, that else might stay Our silent course; in haste retreat, Where whirlpools near the bull-rush meet; Wheel round the ox of monstrous size; And count below his shadowy flies; And sport amidst the throng; and when We met the barks of giant men, Avoid their oars, still undescried, And mock their overbearing pride; Then vanish by some magic spell, And shout, "Delicious WYE, farewell!"