WORDSWORTH'S POEMS. THE WHITE DOE OF RYLSTONE; OR, THE FATE OF THE NORTONS.* IN trellised shed with clustering roses gay, Ah, then, beloved! pleasing was the smart, And the tear precious in compassion shed Meek as that emblem of her lowly heart Like the brave lion slain in her defence. Founded on a tradition that not long after the dissolution of the monasteries a white doe used to come to Bolton Abbey over the fells from Rylstone every Sunday, and remain in the churchyard during divine service, returning at its close. Notes could we hear as of a fairy shell, For us the stream of fiction ceased to flow, It soothed us--it beguiled us-then, to hear Then, too, this song of mine once more could please, Even to the inferior kinds; whom forest trees |