FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123  
124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   >>   >|  
tread, And cry, while scorn each breast is swelling-- "HERE LIE THE DASTARD, CAITIFF SLAVES, WHO DRAGGED OUR HEROES FROM THEIR GRAVES." BOW-MEETING SONG. BY REGINALD HEBER. Ye spirits of our fathers, The hardy, bold, and free, Who chased o'er Cressy's gory field A fourfold enemy! From us who love your sylvan game, To you the song shall flow, To the fame of your name Who so bravely bent the bow. 'Twas merry then in England (Our ancient records tell), With Robin Hood and Little John Who dwelt by down and dell; And yet we love the bold outlaw Who braved a tyrant foe, Whose cheer was the deer, And his only friend the bow. 'Twas merry then in England In autumn's dewy morn, When echo started from her hill To hear the bugle-horn. And beauty, mirth, and warrior worth In garb of green did go The shade to invade With the arrow and the bow. Ye spirits of our fathers! Extend to us your care, Among your children yet are found The valiant and the fair, 'Tis merry yet in Old England, Full well her archers know, And shame on their name Who despise the British bow! THE BALLAD OF ROU. BY LORD LYTTON. From Blois to Senlis, wave by wave, rolled on the Norman flood, And Frank on Frank went drifting down the weltering tide of blood; There was not left in all the land a castle wall to fire, And not a wife but wailed a lord, a child but mourned a sire. To Charles the king, the mitred monks, the mailed barons flew, While, shaking earth, behind them strode, the thunder march of Rou. "O king," then cried those barons bold, "in vain are mace and mail, We fall before the Norman axe, as corn before the flail." "And vainly," cry the pious monks, "by Mary's shrine we kneel, For prayers, like arrows glance aside, against the Norman steel." The barons groaned, the shavelings wept, while near and nearer drew, As death-birds round their scented feast, the raven flags of Rou. Then said King Charles, "Where thousands fail, what king can stand alone
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123  
124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

England

 
Norman
 

barons

 

Charles

 

spirits

 

fathers

 
castle
 

thousands

 

wailed

 

mitred


mailed

 

mourned

 

LYTTON

 
BALLAD
 
despise
 

British

 

Senlis

 

rolled

 

drifting

 

weltering


shaking
 

groaned

 
vainly
 

shavelings

 
prayers
 
shrine
 

glance

 

scented

 

arrows

 
strode

thunder
 
nearer
 
fourfold
 
sylvan
 

chased

 

Cressy

 

ancient

 

records

 

bravely

 
DASTARD

CAITIFF

 

SLAVES

 

swelling

 
breast
 

DRAGGED

 

MEETING

 

REGINALD

 
GRAVES
 

HEROES

 

invade