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THE IVY OF KENILWORTH.
"Where I am, now last and lone,
Queenly steps have come and gone;
Gorgeous masques have glided by,
Unto rolling harmony.
Queenly steps have come and gone;
Gorgeous masques have glided by,
Unto rolling harmony.
"Flung from these illumined towers,
Light hath pierced the forest bowers;
Lake, and pool, and fount, have been
Kindled by their midnight sheen.
Light hath pierced the forest bowers;
Lake, and pool, and fount, have been
Kindled by their midnight sheen.
"Where is now the feasting high?
Where the lordly minstrelsy?
Where the tourney's ringing spear?
—I am sole and silent here!
Where the lordly minstrelsy?
Where the tourney's ringing spear?
—I am sole and silent here!
"In my home no hearth is crown'd,
Through my halls no wine foams round,
By my gates hath ceased the lay—
All things—all things pass away!"
Through my halls no wine foams round,
By my gates hath ceased the lay—
All things—all things pass away!"
Yes! thy warning voice I knew,
Ivy! and its tale is true:
All is passing, or hath pass'd—
Thou thyself must perish last!
Ivy! and its tale is true:
All is passing, or hath pass'd—
Thou thyself must perish last!
Yet my secret soul replied,
"Surely one thing shall abide;
'Midst the wreck of ages, one,—
Heaven's eternal Word alone!"
"Surely one thing shall abide;
'Midst the wreck of ages, one,—
Heaven's eternal Word alone!"