I paced the deserted chambers
where he had composed his poem; I leaned upon the window, and
endeavored to persuade myself it was the very one where he had been
visited by his vision; I looked out upon the spot where he had first
seen the Lady Jane. It was the same genial and joyous month; the birds
were again vying with each other in strains of liquid melody; every
thing was bursting into vegetation, and budding forth the tender
promise of the year. Time, which delights to obliterate the sterner
memorials of human pride, seems to have passed lightly over this
little scene of poetry and love, and to have withheld his desolating
hand. Several centuries have gone by, yet the garden still
flourishes at the foot of the Tower. It occupies what was once the
moat of the Keep; and though some parts have been separated by
dividing walls, yet others have still their arbors and shaded walks,
as in the days of James, and the whole is sheltered, blooming, and
retired. There is a charm about a spot that has been printed by the
footsteps of departed beauty, and consecrated by the inspirations of
the poet, which is heightened, rather than impaired, by the lapse of
ages.
Pages:
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25