WORDSWORTH'S POEMS. THE WHITE DOE OF RYLSTONE; OR, THE FATE OF THE NORTONS.* N trellised shed with clustering roses gay, IN And, Mary! oft beside our blazing fire, To seek her knight went wandering o'er the earth. Ah, then, beloved! pleasing was the smart, And the tear precious in compassion shed Did meekly bear the pang unmerited; Meek as that emblem of her lowly heart The milk-white lamb which in a line she led, And faithful, loyal in her innocence, 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 All that she suffered for her dear lord's sake. Then, too, this song of mine once more could please, Where anguish, strange as dreams of restless sleep, Is tempered and allayed by sympathies Aloft ascending, and descending deep, Even to the inferior kinds; whom forest trees |