Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes. England: Vols. IIV. 187679. | | Netley Abbey | Netley Abbey | William Lisle Bowles (17621850) |
| FALLEN pile! I ask not what has been thy fate: | |
But when the winds slow wafted from the main, | |
Through each rent arch, like spirits that complain, | |
Come hollow to my ear, I meditate | |
On this worlds passing pageant, and the lot | 5 |
Of those who once majestic in their prime | |
Stood smiling at decay, till, bowed by time | |
Or injury, their early boast forgot, | |
They may have fallen like thee! Pale and forlorn, | |
Their brow, besprent with thin hairs, white as snow, | 10 |
They lift, still unsubdued, as they would scorn | |
This short-lived scene of vanity and woe; | |
Whilst on their sad looks smilingly they bear | |
The trace of creeping age, and the pale hue of care! | | | |
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