Fugitive Poetry. 1600–1878/On Seeing Burleigh Castle

On Seeing Burleigh Castle.

In reverend guise this ancient pile survey, Girded with oaks whose tinted foliage gleams With Autumn's golden hue. Now lengthening streamsBetween their hoary trunks the western ray,As smiles the slowly parting orb of day Full on these lofty halls are flung his beams, Where Time's ennobling touch has furnished themes,That rouse the soul through centuries to stray.I see our maiden queen beside me sweep—I shrink beneath the lightning of her glance,Or view that lofty form relaxed in sleep, Her mind's vast powers bound up as in a trance, Till all these splendid scenes in dimness fade, Lost in the glory of that awful shade.