Poems (1786) Volume I

Excerpt: ...starting from repose   Heard the dire shrieks of murder burst-     From infant innocence they rose,       And shook these solemn towers!-   I shudd'ring pass that fatal room   For ages wrapt in central gloom;-   I shudd'ring pass that iron door   Which Fate perchance unlocks no more; Death, smear'd with blood, o'er the dark portal lowers. A The anniversary of the murder of Edward the Fifth, and his brother      Richard, Duke of York. II.   How fearfully my step resounds     Along these lonely bounds:- Spare, savage blast! the taper's quiv'ring fires,   Deep in these gath'ring shades its flame expires.     Ye host of heaven! the door recedes-     It mocks my grasp-what unseen hands       Have burst its iron bands?     No mortal force this gate unbarr'd     Where danger lives, which terrors guard-     Dread powers! its screaming hinges close       On this dire scene of impious deeds-     My feet are fix'd!-Dismay has bound     My step on this polluted ground-   But lo! the pitying moon, a line of light   Athwart the horrid darkness dimly throws, And from yon grated window chases night.- III.     Ye visions that before me roll,   That freeze my blood, that shake my soul!     Are ye the phantoms of a dream?   Pale spectres! are ye what ye seem?     They glide more near-       Their forms unfold!     Fix'd are their eyes, on me they bend-       Their glaring look is cold!   And hark!-I hear Sounds that the throbbing pulse of life suspend. IV.   No wild illusion cheats thy sight     With shapes that only live in night-   Mark the native glories spread     Around my bleeding brow!   The crown of Albion wreath'd my head,     And Gallia's liliesA twin'd below-   When my father shook his spear,     When his banner sought the skies,   Her baffled host recoil'd with fear,...