Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, INSCRIPTION FOR A SEAT IN THE GROVES OF COLEORTON, by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

INSCRIPTION FOR A SEAT IN THE GROVES OF COLEORTON, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Beneath yon eastern ridge, the craggy bound
Last Line: From airy words alone, a pile that ne'er decays.


BENEATH yon eastern ridge, the craggy bound,
Rugged and high, of Charnwood's forest ground
Stand yet, but, Stranger! hidden from thy view,
The ivied Ruins of forlorn GRACE DIEU;
Erst a religious House, which day and night
With hymns resounded, and the chanted rite:
And when those rites had ceased, the Spot gave birth
To honourable Men of various worth:
There, on the margin of a streamlet wild,
Did Francis Beaumont sport, an eager child;
There, under shadow of the neighbouring rocks,
Sang youthful tales of shepherds and their flocks;
Unconscious prelude to heroic themes,
Heart-breaking tears, and melancholy dreams
Of slighted love, and scorn, and jealous rage,
With which his genius shook the buskined stage.
Communities are lost, and Empires die,
And things of holy use unhallowed lie;
They perish; -- but the Intellect can raise,
From airy words alone, a Pile that ne'er decays.







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