Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79. | | | | Walton | | Walton Castle | | William Lisle Bowles (1762–1850) |
| | (From Banwell Hill)
LOOK around! | |
| Above the winding reach of Severn stands, | |
| With massy fragments of forsaken towers, | |
| Thy castle, solitary Walton. Hark! | |
| Through the lone ivied arch was it the wind | 5 |
| Came fitful! There by moonlight we might stand, | |
| And deem it some old castle of romance; | |
| And on the glimmering ledge of yonder rock, | |
| Above the wave, fancy it was the form | |
| Of a spectre-lady for a moment seen, | 10 |
| Lifting her bloody dagger, then with shrieks | |
| Vanishing! Hush! there is no sound,—no sound | |
| But of the Severn sweeping onward! Look! | |
| There is no bleeding apparition there,— | |
| No fiery phantoms glare along thy walls! | 15 |
| Surrounded by the works of silent art, | |
| And far, far more endearing, by a group | |
| Of breathing children, their possessor lives; | |
| And ill should I deserve the name of bard, | |
| Of courtly bard, if I could touch this theme | 20 |
| Without a prayer,—an earnest, heartfelt prayer,— | |
| When one, whose smile I never saw but once, | |
| Yet cannot well forget,—when one now blooms, | |
| Unlike the spectre-lady of the rock, | |
| A living and a lovely bride! | 25 | | | |
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