33 CUMNOR HALL. THE dews of summer-night did fall; And many an oak that grew thereby. Now nought was heard beneath the skies- Save an unhappy lady's sighs, That issued from that lonely pile. Leicester!" she cried, "is this thy love, That thou so oft hast sworn to me, Immured in shameful privity? CUMNOR HALL. "No more thou com'st with lover's speed, Thy once-beloved bride to see; 66 66 But be she 'live or be she dead, I fear, stern Earl, 's the same to thee. Not so the usage I received, When happy in my father's hall; 'I rose up with the cheerful moru, No lark more blythe, no flower more gay; And like the bird that haunts the thorn, So merrily sung the livelong day. "If that my beauty is but small, Amongst court-ladies all despisedWhy didst thou rend it from that hall, Where, scornful Earl, it well was prized? "And when you first to me made suit, "Yes, now neglected and despised, . The rose is pale, the lily 's dead; But he that once their charins so prized Is, sure, the cause those charms are fled. "For know, when sick'ning grief doth prey, And tender love's repaid with scorn, The sweetest beauty will decay, What floweret can endure the storm? |