Elegy on Newstead Abbey

"It is the voice of years, that are gone! they roll before me, with all their deeds."

Ossian.

1. 1NEWSTEAD! fast-falling, once-resplendent dome!
2. 2Religion's shrine! repentant HENRY'S pride!
3. 3Of Warriors, Monks, and Dames the cloister'd tomb,
4. 4Whose pensive shades around thy ruins glide,

1. 5Hail to thy pile! more honour'd in thy fall,
2. 6Than modern mansions, in their pillar'd state;
3. 7Proudly majestic frowns thy vaulted hall,
4. 8Scowling defiance on the blasts of fate.

1. 9No mail-clad Serfs, obedient to their Lord,
2. 10In grim array, the crimson cross demand;
3. 11Or gay assemble round the festive board,
4. 12Their chief's retainers, an immortal band.

1. 13Else might inspiring Fancy's magic eye
2. 14Retrace their progress, through the lapse of time;
3. 15Marking each ardent youth, ordain'd to die,
4. 16A votive pilgrim, in Judea's clime.

1. 17But not from thee, dark pile! departs the Chief;
2. 18His feudal realm in other regions lay:
3. 19In thee the wounded conscience courts relief,
4. 20Retiring from the garish blaze of day.

1. 21Yes! in thy gloomy cells and shades profound,
2. 22The monk abjur'd a world, he ne'er could view;
3. 23Or blood-stain'd Guilt repenting, solace found,
4. 24Or Innocence, from stern Oppression, flew.

1. 25A Monarch bade thee from that wild arise,
2. 26Where Sherwood's outlaws, once, were wont to prowl;
3. 27And Superstition's crimes, of various dyes,
4. 28Sought shelter in the Priest's protecting cowl.

1. 29Where, now, the grass exhales a murky dew,
2. 30The humid pall of life-extinguish'd clay,
3. 31In sainted fame, the sacred Fathers grew,
4. 32Nor raised their pious voices, but to pray.

1. 33Where, now, the bats their wavering wings extend,
2. 34Soon as the gloaming spreads her waning shade;
3. 35The choir did, oft, their mingling vespers blend,
4. 36Or matin orisons to Mary paid.

1. 37Years roll on years; to ages, ages yield;
2. 38Abbots to Abbots, in a line, succeed:
3. 39Religion's charter, their protecting shield,
4. 40Till royal sacrilege their doom decreed.

1. 41One holy HENRY rear'd the Gothic walls,
2. 42And bade the pious inmates rest in peace;
3. 43Another HENRY the kind gift recalls,
4. 44And bids devotion's hallow'd echoes cease.

1. 45Vain is each threat, or supplicating prayer;
2. 46He drives them exiles from their blest abode,
3. 47To roam a dreary world, in deep despair--
4. 48No friend, no home, no refuge, but their God.

1. 49Hark! how the hall, resounding to the strain,
2. 50Shakes with the martial music's novel din!
3. 51The heralds of a warrior's haughty reign,
4. 52High crested banners wave thy walls within.

1. 53Of changing sentinels the distant hum,
2. 54The mirth of feasts, the clang of burnish'd arms,
3. 55The braying trumpet, and the hoarser drum,
4. 56Unite in concert with increas'd alarms.

1. 57An abbey once, a regal fortress now,
2. 58Encircled by insulting rebel powers;
3. 59War's dread machines o'erhang thy threat'ning brow,
4. 60And dart destruction, in sulphureous showers.

1. 61Ah! vain defence! the hostile traitor's siege,
2. 62Though oft repuls'd, by guile o'ercomes the brave;
3. 63His thronging foes oppress the faithful Liege,
4. 64Rebellion's reeking standards o'er him wave.

1. 65Not unaveng'd the raging Baron yields;
2. 66The blood of traitors smears the purple plain;
3. 67Unconquer'd still, his falchion there he wields,
4. 68And days of glory, yet, for him remain.

1. 69Still, in that hour, the warrior wish'd to strew
2. 70Self-gather'd laurels on a self-sought grave;
3. 71But Charles' protecting genius hither flew,
4. 72The monarch's friend, the monarch's hope, to save.

1. 73Trembling, she snatch'd him from th' unequal strife,
2. 74In other fields the torrent to repel;
3. 75For nobler combats, here, reserv'd his life,
4. 76To lead the band, where godlike FALKLAND fell.

1. 77From thee, poor pile! to lawless plunder given,
2. 78While dying groans their painful requiem sound,
3. 79Far different incense, now, ascends to Heaven,
4. 80Such victims wallow on the gory ground.

1. 81There many a pale and ruthless Robber's corse,
2. 82Noisome and ghast, defiles thy sacred sod;
3. 83O'er mingling man, and horse commix'd with horse,
4. 84Corruption's heap, the savage spoilers trod.

1. 85Graves, long with rank and sighing weeds o'erspread,
2. 86Ransack'd resign, perforce, their mortal mould:
3. 87From ruffian fangs, escape not e'en the dead,
4. 88Racked from repose, in search for buried gold.

1. 89Hush'd is the harp, unstrung the warlike lyre,
2. 90The minstrel's palsied hand reclines in death;
3. 91No more he strikes the quivering chords with fire,
4. 92Or sings the glories of the martial wreath.

1. 93At length the sated murderers, gorged with prey,
2. 94Retire: the clamour of the fight is o'er;
3. 95Silence again resumes her awful sway,
4. 96And sable Horror guards the massy door.

1. 97Here, Desolation holds her dreary court:
2. 98What satellites declare her dismal reign!
3. 99Shrieking their dirge, ill-omen'd birds resort,
4. 100To flit their vigils, in the hoary fane.

1. 101Soon a new Morn's restoring beams dispel
2. 102The clouds of Anarchy from Britain's skies;
3. 103The fierce Usurper seeks his native hell,
4. 104And Nature triumphs, as the Tyrant dies.

1. 105With storms she welcomes his expiring groans;
2. 106Whirlwinds, responsive, greet his labouring breath;
3. 107Earth shudders, as her caves receive his bones,
4. 108Loathing the offering of so dark a death.

1. 109The legal Ruler now resumes the helm,
2. 110He guides through gentle seas, the prow of state;
3. 111Hope cheers, with wonted smiles, the peaceful realm,
4. 112And heals the bleeding wounds of wearied Hate.

1. 113The gloomy tenants, Newstead! of thy cells,
2. 114Howling, resign their violated nest;
3. 115Again, the Master on his tenure dwells,
4. 116Enjoy'd, from absence, with enraptured zest.

1. 117Vassals, within thy hospitable pale,
2. 118Loudly carousing, bless their Lord's return;
3. 119Culture, again, adorns the gladdening vale,
4. 120And matrons, once lamenting, cease to mourn.

1. 121A thousand songs, on tuneful echo, float,
2. 122Unwonted foliage mantles o'er the trees;
3. 123And, hark! the horns proclaim a mellow note,
4. 124The hunters' cry hangs lengthening on the breeze.

1. 125Beneath their coursers' hoofs the valleys shake;
2. 126What fears! what anxious hopes! attend the chase!
3. 127The dying stag seeks refuge in the lake;
4. 128Exulting shouts announce the finish'd race.

1. 129Ah happy days! too happy to endure!
2. 130Such simple sports our plain forefathers knew:
3. 131No splendid vices glitter'd to allure;
4. 132Their joys were many, as their cares were few.

1. 133From these descending, Sons to Sires succeed;
2. 134Time steals along, and Death uprears his dart;
3. 135Another Chief impels the foaming steed,
4. 136Another Crowd pursue the panting hart.

1. 137Newstead! what saddening change of scene is thine!
2. 138Thy yawning arch betokens slow decay;
3. 139The last and youngest of a noble line,
4. 140Now holds thy mouldering turrets in his sway.

1. 141Deserted now, he scans thy gray worn towers;
2. 142Thy vaults, where dead of feudal ages sleep;
3. 143Thy cloisters, pervious to the wintry showers;
4. 144These, these he views, and views them but to weep.

1. 145Yet are his tears no emblem of regret:
2. 146Cherish'd Affection only bids them flow;
3. 147Pride, Hope, and Love, forbid him to forget,
4. 148But warm his bosom, with impassion'd glow.

1. 149Yet he prefers thee, to the gilded domes,
2. 150Or gewgaw grottos, of the vainly great;
3. 151Yet lingers 'mid thy damp and mossy tombs,
4. 152Nor breathes a murmur 'gainst the will of Fate.

1. 153Haply thy sun, emerging, yet, may shine,
2. 154Thee to irradiate with meridian ray;
3. 155Hours, splendid as the past, may still be thine,
4. 156And bless thy future, as thy former day.