HART-LEAP WELL
I stood in various thoughts and fancies lost.
When one, who was in shepherd's garb attired,
Came up the hollow :—him did I accost.
And what this place might be I then inquired.
The Shepherd stopped, and that same story told
Which in my former rhyme I have rehearsed.
" A jolly place," said he, " in times of old I
But something ails it now : the spot is curst.
" You see these lifeless stumps of aspen wood—
Some say that they are beeches, other elms— to
These were the bower ; and here a mansion stood,
The finest palace of a hundred realms !
" The arbour does its own condition tell;
You see the stones, the fountain, and the stream ;
But as to the great Lodge ! you might as well
Hunt half a day for a forgotten dream.
" There's neither dog nor heifer, horse nor sheep.
Will wet his lips within that cup of stone ;
And oftentimes, when all are fast asleep,
This water doth send forth a dolorous groan. 20
" Some say that here a murder has been done,
And blood cries out for blood : but, for my part,
I've guessed, when I've been sitting in the sun,
That it was all for that unhappy hart.
" What thoughts must through the creature's brain
have past I
Even from the topmost stone, upon the steep,
Are but three bounds—and look, Sir, at this last—
O Master ! it has been a cruel leap.
33 D