Rylstone. William Wordsworth (1770-1850). Rylstone Hall. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. 1876-79. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes. England: Vols. I-IV

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79.

Rylstone Hall

Rylstone

William Wordsworth (1770–1850)


(From The White Doe of Rylstone) ’T IS night: in silence looking down,
The moon from cloudless ether sees
A camp, and a beleaguered town,
And castle like a stately crown
On the steep rocks of winding Tees;	5
And southward far, with moor between,
Hill-top, and flood, and forest green,
The bright moon sees that valley small
Where Rylstone’s old sequestered Hall
A venerable image yields	10
Of quiet to the neighboring fields,
While from one pillared chimney breathes
The smoke, and mounts in silver wreaths.
The courts are hushed; for timely sleep
The greyhounds to their kennel creep;	15
The peacock in the broad ash-tree
Aloft is roosted for the night,—
He who in proud prosperity
Of colors manifold and bright
Walked round, affronting the daylight;	20
And higher still, above the bower
Where he is perched, from yon lone tower
The hall-clock in the clear moonshine
With glittering finger points at nine.