iy Nee DUN KMART iL H.D.RAWNSLEY. Aa) ae Sor re poklt ont WSS Sell yy J par Ss e ee a ( , San so WW "eo = Oz J BOS = 2% 5 Ve 1 A Cs sien al ail At Sah ZR 2 Wein Swe cles 35% 93) Repel ey ee ey Epa perpen The date shows when this volume was taken. To renew this book copy the call No. and give to the librarian. -- HOME USE RULES ‘ All Books subject to recall All borrowers must regis- ter in the library to bor- row books for home use. All books must be re- turned at end of college year for inspection and repairs. Limited books must be returned within the four ieuatasedessaeada ies cssudcuea baailbodecdaccdia week limit and not renewed. Students must return all books before leaving town. Officers should arrange for dae orate saree secedeeeeeNer we the return of books wanted during their absence from town. Volumes of periodicals detbapisesgenteetid ses actaedeustensss) ssreweiereres and of pamphlets are held in the library as much 4s * possible. For special pur- poses they are given out for a limited time. _ Borrowers should not use their library privileges for the benefit of other persons. Books of special value ls ar ate eh bakit ath tes ecubumah tates and gift books, when the giver wishes it, are not al- lowed to circulate. Readers are asked to re- port all cases of books dag sce inlcsss cath: sotsedoseceed eneanasnane inuabatteaes marked or mutilated. ° Do not deface books by marks and writing. A BOOK OF BRISTOL SONNETS. EARLIEST COMMON SEAL OF BRISTOL. Tue privilege of using the Seal, a copy of which is stamped on the outside of this Book, was first conceded to the Burgesses of Bristol by Edward I., as Lord of the Castle, 1275-1280. The Seal as shewn is supposed to represent the Castle gate as it then was. The obverse represents the water gate of the ancient Castle. A lofty arch, surmounted by an embattled parapet, spans the Castle ditch. Upon this stands a man who beckons to an approaching ship, rigged with single mast and sail. A pilot on board steers the vessel by means of a rude plank rudder projected from the side. The legend round it runs thus: ““SECRETI CLAVIS SUM PORTUS NAVITA NAVIS PORTAM CUSTODIT PORTUM VIGIL INDICE PRODIT”— I am the key of the secret port. A sailor (é.¢., a Bristol pilot) is taking care that the ship enters the water gate. A warder is pointing out the port (the Castle creek) with his forefinger. This curious device probably refers to an event of the year 1275, when Edward I., then at war with Llewellyn Prince of Wales, held his court in the Bristol Castle. Almerike de Montfort, one of the exiled family of the great Earl of Leicester, was bringing his sister Eleanor from France to give her in marriage to Prince Llewellyn. In the Channel they were overtaken by a Burgess of Bristol in his vessel laden with wines. He demanded of them who they were and whither bound, and by stratagem misdirected their voyage, so that the maiden and her escort, with marriage furniture, monies, etc., found themselves entrapped into the “secret port or creek”? of the Bristol Castle.—See Sonnet III. Edward I. congratulated the Burgesses upon so acceptable a prize, and allowed the event to be commemorated on their Common Seal. The captive Lady Eleanor was detained a prisoner in Bristol Castle for three years, and was entreated with all courtesy. Finally, when Prince Leoline—Llewellyn—was reconciled to Edward I., she was liberated, and Inarrying him in 1278, died the following year.—See DALLAway’s Antiquities of Bristow, A BOOK OF BRISTOL SONNETS. BY H. D. RAWNSLEY, B.A. BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD. LONDON: HAMILTON, ADAMS, & CO., 32, PATERNOSTER ROW. BRISTOL: I, E. CHILLCOTT, 26, CLARE STREET, 1877. 2b All Rights Reserved, TO Giwurd Thring, WITH THE GRATITUDE AND AFFECTION OF AN OLD PUPIL. PREFACE. Tus Book has little to recommend it, and asks no praise. But it is believed that it will fill a want here in Bristol, where men are so actively engaged, and oftentimes so wearied, in their business, that they may be glad to have some such thoughts suggested to them. This is little more than a hand-book of such suggestions jotted down at odd moments. And as the writer has often, when gazing on an object or scene, wished that a thought could be given him to seal that object in his memory, he deems it not improbable that there are others of like need with himself among the lovers of their old City and its neighbourhood. In conclusion, a debt of thanks is due to all the Local Historians, past and present; notably to Barrett, Seyer, Dallaway, Garrard, Chilcott, viii. PREFACE. Corrie and Evans, Pryce, J. Taylor, and J. F. Nicholls. The Author cannot but express a wish that the Notes appended to these Sonnets may induce a reader, here and there, to dive further into these books for himself; and so, learning to reverence what is honourable in the past, live more nobly in the present. CONTENTS. Bristot of To-pay . . “i $ é 3 F A Dream or Ancient Bristou . : . Exzeanor DE Monrrort in Bristot CastLE ‘ 3 Bristot Caste anp THE Tram-Cars. 5 . é Sr. Joun’s Gate. = J 3 - 3 ‘ 2 Sr. Jonn’s Conpuir, Netson Street. 8 é Tux Fort, Brisron . s z < . * 5 Bristou University ConLEGE . 3 3 2 : Moruzr Puestzy’s Finny, Nivz-Trez Hur . e ON NOTICING THAT THE ONLY LIME TREE NOT IN BUD, at CoLLEGE GREEN, FRONTED THE CaTHEDRAL Porce ON HEARING THE ORGAN IN THE CATHEDRAL WHILE THE WORK IN THE NAvE WAS SUSPENDED. . Spree or Sr. Mary Repcurrrz, From Prrnce’s Bano Sr. Many Repeuirre . ‘ 7 : 5 é = CHatTrerton. 2 2 ‘ r 3 é 2 ‘TEMPORA Riana, JErrrRizs’ Boox-sHop F Tue Oax Cuamper at Jerrerizs’, RepcLirre STREET Sr. Srrruzn’s TowrrR, 48 SEEN FROM THE JUNCTION OF Privce’s Street anD Marsx Srreer. 4 3 Sr. Wersurcu’s Tower . ; ‘ ‘ 7 2 Sr. James’ CHURCHYARD . 3 i a . . On wEarnine Sr. Marrpew’s Peau. x ‘ : Currton Hitt. Cuxrrron Parish Cxurce . 7 7 Currron Cottece Cuaren. Tur SunDay oF RETURN to Scxoot. ‘ 3 . : . - - 2 SERMON IN THE CoLLEGE CHapEL. ‘‘ WoRK WHILE YE HAVE THE Licut.’’ Frepruary 6TH, 1876 ‘ Fuavent Coox v. Jenxins. Appin Ist, 1876 . ‘ PAGE. HOO RMA NK N EH 1 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 22 24 26 28 29 30 31 32, x. CONTENTS, Fravet Coox v. Jenxms. A wALk py Curist CoHuRCH oN THE EVENING OF THE VERDICT . : ‘ 5 Sunpay mv Brisron . : ; A . 3 § On HEARING THE Breps Sine, AsH WEDNESDAY Morn- ING. : ‘i ‘i & : ‘ e 5 Goop Fripay iw Brisron. 1876 3 ‘ 3 ‘ On nearing Betts on Easter Mornine . r 5 ‘Wuuir Monpay, rrom Asuuzy Hu . : ‘ Harvest Tuanxservine at St. Barnasas’. SEprem- BER 5, 1876. z s : s 5 : 7 Sire or THe Ancient Hien Cross . ‘ . . Ricuarp SavaGe; or, In Front or St. Perer’s Hos- pirat. Buriat Recisrer, s.p. 1743, Ricuarp SavacE, THE Port 2 ‘ . a 3 é 3 F Anno’s Vate CEMETERY . - - 2 ‘ Tae Crippres’ Homz, 384, Ricumonp Terrace, CuIFToN . , ‘ 7 ; a 5 : 2 “Lirritz Jounny,” at tae Crippizs’ Home . 5 Tse Curtpren’s Hosrrran . “ ‘ . 3 < In Memoriam. Joun Cumpy . 3 ‘ ; 4 Baisrot Smoke 1n Earty Mornine. Ocroser . 5 A Catm Evenine, rrom Asnitey Hint. : és BristoL py GasLicHtT, From AsHLEY Hitu - 3 A Marcu Day, on Asnizy Hint, LooKING DOWN oN Briston . . “ P % ‘ 2 Miitter’s OrpHanacs, Assarny Down A 3 Prucsine Daisies; on, THE ORPHANAGE AT THE FOOT or Asuuzy Hon . : 2 , - : ‘ Tue Rev Matps’ Scoot . : ‘ 5 e Mrs. Fry Visrrina Neweate . 5 A View or Bristol, EARLY IN THE Moran, FROM Pur-Down. ‘Gop 1g IN THE MIDST OF HER, THERE- FORE SHALL SHE NOT BE REMOVED”? ‘ ‘i 7 Tue Hooter, on Srzam-Horn, HEARD at DucueEss’ Woops . ‘ , 2 ‘ . : ‘ . A Servicz or Sone in Ducuuss’ Parx, on a May Moenine . ‘ . . ‘ * ‘ s ‘ PAGE. 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 42 43 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 BRISTOL SONNETS. 97 ON THE QUAY: THE LUMPER, OR CORN-RUNNER. Grant of limb, red capped, and bare of poll, ‘With arms whereon the swart hairs never grow,! He eyes the bag, which, swinging from below, Demands full measure of the scale-man’s dole. Then, with a jerk and balance, full control Of the o’erwhelming sack he takes, and so, His left arm lightly hung, he starts to go Down yielding plank, and on with easy roll! We have our corn to run, the daily cark, Our ship of life brings in at every tide ; And know where, carrying, we those cares may leave. But these, in their strong zeal to disembark, Have shamed the sloth with which we labourers plied, And, head erect, they come new burdens to receive. 1 Refers to the constant attrition of the corn sacks on neck and arm. 98 A BOOK OF THE LIGHTS AT THE HARBOUR MOUTH, AS SEEN FROM THE SUSPENSION BRIDGE. Have then thy ships sailed home from foreign ‘shores | . With tropic phosphorescence in their wake, That, through the night, these sullen waters break In stars about the gloomy harbour doors ? Or was the wealth that through the gateway "pours So wishful, Avon, that thine arms should take Nuggets of glittering gold for friendship’s sake, Or fee for safe conveyance of it’s stores ? Slow through the dark the cautious steamers glide, With rosy lights enjewelled,! stem and stern ; And, entering safe their port, on either side Thank-offering torches shall those jewels burn ; ‘That all the City’s wakeful ones may learn How much they owe to yonder patient tide ! >The coloured lights, which steamers show fore and aft as they ascend the Avon at night. BRISTOL SONNETS. 99 OUTWARD BOUND. | SUNDAY, EARLY SPRING. Loup ring the bells, and brave the shipmen row. They’ll spend their Sabbath on the restless sea! The taper masts along the woods of Leigh Glide like a dream; and, seen so far below, The men on deck like busy ants do show ! How longs the prisoned mainsail to be free, And shines and foams the gay, impatient prow ! Dull-hearted ! woods, and will ye not be gay ?. Can these upon the waves of spring-tide learn ? Do churlish billows blossom with the May ? Will foreign seas be green with English fern P Or, Spartan, do ye nerve them for the fray By being, as the waters, cold and stern. 1 The gloomy hue of the woods in early spring will account for this epithet. . 100 A BOOK OF HOMEWARD BOUND. MIDSUMMER. Fine out your flag, and stow the weary sail ; The little steamer’s consequential hand Shall lead you gently; tie the hempen band, And for the last time tell the mid-sea tale! Well have ye fought with many a hungry gale, And late are come unto the wished-for land ! Soon on the cliffs the wives and maids will stand, With waving kerchiefs shall assure you hail ! Shout, for glad rocks will give you voice again, As those far-welcoming kerchiefs lend you heart! ‘The woods shine gorgeous, fresh from summer rain, The Blackbirds sing, above the Swallows dart! Such be the guerdon of your long campaign, The balm that heals the wounded seaman’s smart. BRISTOL SONNETS. 101 AVONMOUTH DOCKS, BEFORE THEIR COMPLETION, 1876. How many setting suns, in vain, shall make Their golden summons at this harbour door!) How many seas shall idly beat the shore, And urge admittance to yon mighty lake! Still must the crane unwind, the trolly take, Spade above spade must scallop out the floor ; Till, through the rift, shall swim the floating store To that stone hull no ocean storms can shake ! Then, where the wag-tail shews his dainty ways, The mightiest ocean keel unharmed shall graze! Screw-blades will churn where pick and spade prevail : And cranes that laid the stone will hoist the bale! Men shall rejoice, though desert Avon mourn And burdened vessels sooner reach their bourne. 1 Refers to the golden. pillar of light that the setting sun makes in the water at Avonmouth. 102 A BOOK OF ON SEEING TWO VESSELS (CUTTER- RIGGED) PASS ONE ANOTHER AT AVONMOUTH. Man meets with man, and goes in silence by, Though Death, who walks with either, gives “ Good-day!” The cattle, meeting in the market-way, Claim kinship, nose their kind, and pass to die! Brook unto brook will call it’s pleasant cry : Buds pass “ Good-morn” from hedge to haw- thorn’s spray : And they, who listen, hear the Wild-Fowl say, “Farewell,” as through the night their legions fly! What wonder when these ships together came,} Some happy word of welcome should be passed ? And narrowing sky, and jib, and leaning mast, “ A.H.,” in fancy’s lips, “All Hail” should frame P That, by the initial, as apart they flew, “United,” from their mainsails’ curve, I knew ? BRISTOL SONNETS. 103 NOTE TO ‘‘ON SEEING TWO VESSELS,” &c.,. 1 Those who remember the shape of'a cutter’s mainsail, and the rake aft of a cutter’s mast, will have no difficulty: in, seeing how, against the sky, the letters A H seem to be formed by the'two vessels at the moment of meeting, and how, as. they part, the curve of their two’ mainsails makes, with the sky, the initial letter U of the word “ United.” 104 A BOOK OF “THE DYING GLADIATOR,” BY CTESILAUS. A CAST IN THE VESTIBULE OF THE MUSEUM, BRISTOL. So known to death, I cannot fear to die! Mine arm, thus leaned upon, will ease my pain. For this alone my forehead doth complain, — Him by whose stroke in this disgrace I lie, None other schooled to this shrewd thrust but I! E’en now I make black Death upon me gain ! I urged my heart’s pulse, swelled each ebbing vein ! Fool that I was, myself mine enemy ! Cheer on, ye careless galleries! I blame None but myself!. I only wish for life To bid my boys choose out some gentler game, And arm no friend’s right hand with deadly knife! So small a wound to sap such lusty strength! Gods! grant I swoon before I fall my length ! BRISTOL SONNETS. 105 EDWARD COLSTON. BORN IN THIS CITY, NOVEMBER 2, 1636. Wuo threw down guineas, but required his pence, His hands are dust, his purpose still survives, What God had given unto us he gives, And generations own his providence ! Hence, Age is honoured, Sailors rest ; and hence, The gold he brought to learning’s busy hives Feeds a fresh swarm for work; the Scholar thrives,! Blessed by the sad-faced man’s benevolence ! Each widow — Wife, each orphan called he — Child ; ? So to the Lord did all his riches lend ! He spake few words; but though men frowned or smiled, Stood by his speech in honour to the end ! So wise his love, that dead they only missed His homely presence,—true Philanthropist ! ' aQheee are allusions to the Saint Michael’s Hill Alms- house, 1691; the Merchants’ Alms-house in King Street, . 1691; the Temple School, 1696; and Hospital on Saint Augustine's Back, 1708, since removed to Stapleton, which Colston built and endowed. 2 When twitted by his friends with his celibacy, Colston would always make this answer: “ Every widow is my wife, and every orphan my child.” Ganrarp’s Life of Colston. 106 A, BOOK OF COLSTON HONOURED; OR,, TRUE CONSERVATISM. Conservine old by strengthening with new, A true Conservative to-day we praise ! Who, so his vessel might secure her ways, Would suit her sails to winds that changing blew !. For helpless age, misfortune’s grief, he knew, With youth unschooled, were waiting at the quays! Shrines of the soul his gratitude might raise, And tottering faiths his kindness could renew ! Far-seeing Pilot, teach us so to steer, And challenge every breeze to fill our sail ! Let Bounty’s eye for pauper shoals be clear ; Her gifts an independent age avail ! Then, not by Doles, we, men unthinking, give, But in Continued Care shall Colston’s memory live! BRISTOL. SONNETS. 107 ORPHEUS GLEE SOCIETY. COLSTON HALL.. ‘WELL may thy surly-coloured pipes be still ! How can those lips, as livid pale as Death, Be sweet as life for colour, when their: breath. Has flown for aye? How can a player’s skill Advantage ought, when a more potent will— The frosts that jealousy awakenth— Are chilling those ten thousand veins beneath, And thy vast lungs with icy numbness fill P ‘With passions of a god, an angel’s voice, A heart as various as the rushing’ wind, Such ill-attempered influence cannot bind With human littleness thy loftier choice ! Nay, generous giant, thou art listening With us, who wonder while these mortals sing !' 108 A BOOK OF CORALS AND CORAL ISLANDS. THE STRIKES. LECTURE BY DR. DUNCAN, COLSTON HALL, MARCH 6, 1876. WHEN we survey thee, through unnumbered years,. Upbuild th’ abysmal ruinous sea-floor, With fringing moles invest the perilous shore, Toil at thy work, and vie with all thy peers ; With art unchanged, and hope that perseveres, Winnow the waters for thy marble store, Cross-wall each court, and seal each corridor ; Blind, but with nice exactness frame thy spheres ; Thy giant purpose, tiniest architect, Co-operation’s worth, the counted cost, Translate our marvel to profound respect ! Admiring thee, we love thy Maker most. While they, who famish by their husband’s strife, Point from the Coral’s aim—a higher, nobler life. BRISTOL SONNETS, 109 TO THE CONDUCTOR OF THE ORCHESTRAL CONCERT IN COLSTON HALL. Bip by thine hand, now angered, and now laid With open fingers soft on air, as One, The grave Bass feels the crook he leans upon, The Fiddler nods, the varying Horn is swayed, The ’chelloist questions of the notes he made, To silver lightning shoots the swift Trombone, The Fluter’s hand gives chace, in monotone The Drum wakes storm, and sunshine follows shade. And musing sad on that harmonious sea, That rising fell, and waking slept at will, Clear from the waves of ancient Galilee, I heard Christ Jesus’ message—“ Peace, be still.” How ill, thought I, do men obey that rod? Which leads creation in one tune to God! 1“ That rod.”—A thought suggested by the baton of the Conductor. ‘110 A BOOK OF DR. MOFFAT ; ‘OR, THE LONDON MISSION MEETING AT COLSTON HALL, SEPTEMBER 22, 1876. I mzarp that old Arch-Missionary say,— “Grant me no Heaven to lose, no Hell to gain, “But give me youth, I every nerve would strain “To succour poor down-trodden Africa ! ”’ Hero and priest, albeit thy locks are grey ; Thy hand, that fear and constant need did train, That swayed a nation,! clutched the lion’s mane,’ And strangled serpents,’ is as swift to-day ! We see thee ward the arrow, frame the plough, Plead for God’s Peace where chafing warriors sit! Thine own tongue lost in exile, hardly thou To our dull prose their poet-words canst fit! While from the caves, beneath that tower of brow, Flash the twin lamps Christ’s quenchless love has lit! _! The Bechuanas. 2Dr. Moffat relates a strange adventure with u lioness, whose cubs he had taken up in his hand. 8 This is a reference to a snake story Dr. Moffat tells. BRISTOL SONNETS. 111 SATURDAY ORGAN RECITAL IN THE COLSTON HALL. I saw thy hands ascending and descending The four white steps of yielding ivory; ! And, either side, a sweet-tongued company, That, bowing, made a welcome never ending? Now this, now that, by their own words com- mending The skill that taught thee so to touch the key, And to the palace gate conducting thee, Where winds and angels were in voice contending! Ye sons of earth, who climb from high to higher, Your feet must sound as truly as those hands! On either side God’s glorious portal stands Clear-throated Faith, with Truth’s triumphant choir, Men’s souls the stops, that thrill at your commands, Creation’s harmony your one desire! 1 The four rows of keys. * The stops that move in and out, and so give the notion of bowing, are ranged ejther side the arch at which the player sits, and which in the Colston Hall organ presents the appearance of “a palace gate.” 112 A BOOK OF t CHORUS FROM “FALL OF BABYLON.” BRISTOL MUSICAL FESTIVAL, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1876. “Gop of our fathers!” That tremendous cry Rose not with more soul-strengthening accord, When proud Belshazzar scorned his captives’ Lord, And learned how faith could trample tyranny ! God of our fathers, in like case we lie ! Upon our tyrants loose a stronger horde! ! Our hearts, as one, pass up to Heaven the word, Oh! lead us back to our simplicity ! For we are aliens, and our foes oppress ! Drink, and mock-faith, and selfishness are Kings: But we remember days, that Thou didst bless ‘With purer manners, and with simpler things. Our thousand hearts, as one for earnestness, Mix at Thy Throne with angel chorussings. 1 Than the horde of Persian conquerors who broke in upon Belshazzar's kingdom. Seo libretto of Spohr's “Fall of Babylon.” BRISTOL SONNETS. 113 MADLLE, ALBANI, AT THE BRISTOL FESTIVAL, 1876. Sut I go listen to the woods in Spring, Or whistle to the Robin on the snow? Nay, for from other tongues new songs I know, To other hearts new sympathy can bring ! To those, for memory’s swift awakening, And hint of other worlds, large thanks I owe! Of this sad earth, thou only canst bestow, Fresh hope, fresh fancy, by thy carolling ! Enter the willing portals of my brain ! Oh! enter in; and thou shalt surely find Passion to temper, broken will to bind, ‘Sweet thoughts to wake that long asleep have lain ; And entering there, though gaily pipe the bird, Thy voice, swift songstress,! shall alone be heard. 1 The epithet is an attempt to condense in a single word all that is meant by a well-trained, accurate voice, capable of awiftness in its runs and modulations. 114 A BOOK OF THE BLACK HELEBORE (CHRISTMAS ROSE), AT DOWN HOUSE. Five butterflies about a cup of gold,} That suck thereout such philtres of repose, Such ecstasies of love-land, that they close Their wings to dream there is not any cold, And commune with the enchanting juices hold ! Magician herb, I said, bright Christmas Rose, December’s darling, cousin of the snows, Your’s is the flower for lover’s hand to fold ! For though thy petal butterflies shall fade, Thy strange six-fingered leaves to dust return ; ‘Who loves, of thee some secret spell may learn, Thy. roots of such cold earth such summer made ! Content to bloom, with no companion by ; At thine own thoughts to blush, and blushing die! ? 1A reference to the five white petals that surround the golden anthers and stamens of the Christmas Rose. ? Before the petals fade they often assume a delicate pink tint, BRISTOL SONNETS. “115 TO A RED ROSE, GROWING AT ASHLEY GRANGE. Onty at night she wept; for with the day Earth’s lightsomeness filled full her maiden heart ! In gifts for many she forgot her smart ; And charming others, charmed her woes away ! Each morn new words her opening lips would say ; And if with curl of scorn those lips would part, And if the blood into her cheeks would start, It was because rude feet had passed her way! She loved not well the prying daylight’s stare, And fainted pale beneath the great sun’s eye ; But her sweet breath made perfume of the air When stars peeped out, and modest dews went by ! So in her damask casket kept she close Her golden dreams of light and love; my rose! 116 A BOOK OF NAN’S WALK. A GENTLE slope with welcome ever crowned, That led us whither open doorways greet, And, by it’s soft assistances, made sweet A swift departure to the horse and hound! On either side, the ladies gaily gowned Rippled the daisies at their velvet feet ! And shimmering fir, and laurels, gave retreat To birds, that sang the livelong summer round ! There was no need of noisy roadway there,— O’erhanging Limes their golden gravel lent, And seed, and glume, and pollen everywhere Refreshed the wheels with silences and scent! So many hearts with gladness there had gone,— The leaves might fall, but still the gay sun shone ! BRISTOL SONNETS. 117 CARTER’S LANE, PORTBURY.. I xNow a lane where Summer waits for Spring, And Spring with beauty holds the Summer back! There shepherds have no need of almanac, Flowers tell the seasons, hours the Thrushes sing ! Close at our side, a brooklet gossiping . Bids us for ever higher up the track ; Of sweet May music never is there lack, Their silent peals the heavy blue-bells ring ! O’er-hanging elm-trees lend perpetual shade ; Not very far the welcome dew will stray ; Their broidery on the banks the ferns have made; And on the dimpled stones the sun-whirls play ! Cheered by such sight, such soft accompaniment, Old age forgets how long the lane’s ascent ! 118 A BOOK OF RUMOUR OF WAR, JUNE, 1876. KINGSWESTON. By flash of sun! the fearless Roman gave Those thirteen camps? their signal to beware : ' The Latin ploughman left afield his share ; His flocks for home the Sabine shepherd drave ! Green grows the corn he left us o’er his grave ; The flocks he reared outside the ramparts fare ! But eyes are strained, and anxious hearts have care, Along the hills, that watch the western wave ; Swifter than cannon’s shout, or flash of sun, Our hearts’ alarm from hill to valley run ! What boots it that we banished alien Pan, That God’s white temples prick from yonder wood, Creed has not changed or Turk or Christian mood, And still man’s chiefest enemy is man ! BRISTOL SONNETS. 119: NOTES TO “RUMOUR OF WAR,” &c. 1It is supposed that the ancients signalled from height to height by means of mirrors of bright metal flashed in the sun. 2«Those thirteen camps.”—In a.p. 50, the Propretor Publius Ostorius Scapula was appointed general of the Roman forces in Britain. He subjugated and disarmed the Cangi, « Somersetshire tribe of aborigines, and, to prevent revolt, occupied the British camps on the heights of the Avon—e.g., Stokesleigh, Bowerwall or Rownham, and the Clifton Observatory camps. Tacitus tells us “that he maintained authority over the inhabitants on the banks of the Avon and Severn by surrounding them with camps.’”’ This he virtually did by occupying or constructing a double line of fortified posts which remain to thisday. These, roughly stated, are— Sea Mills, Henbury, Almondsbury, Elberton, and Old Abbey, along the Severn; and Lansdown, Old Sodbury, Westridge, The Drakestone, and Uleybury, farther inland on the Cots- wolds. .To these latter may be added Wick, Burril, Horton, and Bloodyacre. 120 A BOOK OF GOBLIN COMBE. Ir there are hearts that have a grief to tell, Or lips that yearn some secret to unfold, Go, bid them leave this melancholy Wold, And wander down thy dimly-lighted Dell, What time the acorn quits it’s dainty shell, And elders fruit, and brackens turn to gold; There shall they learn, as learned the men of old, The strange enchantment of the Goblin spell ! For not a wood-note jars the voice of care; The winds are hushed at every listening leaf ; The dumb rocks suit our mood, cold, grey, and bare ; And the black yews compassionate our grief ; And entering in that lone bough-archéd tomb, Our souls are strong to pass the Goblin Combe! BRISTOL SONNETS. 121 SCENE FROM SKITTIM HILL, HENBURY. IN SPRING. Wir what persuasion to unending sleep Yon mountains lean their arms along the shore! Seas icy still, as though a sudden frore Had fallen from Summer skies; and, yonder, peep Ships with lost wings, who by the greenland keep Mysterious watch, while prow, and keel, and oar Have left transfixed for aye a furrowed score Upon the forehead of the dead old deep ! Come hearts, whose weary pulses sigh to death ; Come eyes, whose weary lids are tired of life ; Sit here, and take, from all the scene beneath, Some courage for the ceasing of all strife ! Plain, sea, and mountain, in their calmness viewed, Tell of a Spring begun, a life renewed! 122 A BOOK OF VIEW OF HENBURY PLAIN, FROM FERN HILL. Ye kindred spirits of the earth and sea, Who love the greeny levels of the main, For ease of foot lies stretched yon even plain, Enamelled green as spring-tide grass may be! But if to hunt for Posies ye agree, White garlands from the sunny waves to gain, Lo! daisies flash, where sprung white drops of rain! Waves break in bloom from tree to hawthorn-tree! And are ye loath to leave that silver store The giddy Wye, the solemn Severn yields ; A larger treasure waits you in these fields ; Youth, calm, and beauty mingle on the shore ! There, one low tune the shells are whispering ; Here, echo ranges while the gay birds sing ! BRISTOL SONNETS. 123: INFANCY ; oR, GOING TO THE NEW PASSAGE. Away, with shout, the docile engine moves; Along the banks it writes it’s shadow-name ; And, where the white smoke frolics in it’s game, Lo! daisies cloud the grass with starry droves! Those bars of music that the shrill wind loves,1 Like these our hearts are dancing; on we flame, The racing swallow at our side how tame! We rush by busy farm and restful groves ; Now have we gained the burnished Severn Sea, It’s sweet salt breath, it’s heady turbulence ! And, on the decks of new experience, ‘We shake the sails of infant wonder free! False sands may snatch, the waves of wild untruth Storm, but our eyes are towards the mountains of our youth. 1 The telegraph wires at the side of the railway. 124 A BOOK OF BOYHOOD; oR, THE FERRY AT THE NEW PASSAGE. Past all our fretting, all our strange annoy! How like to snakes the stripéd waters gleam ! The lands we leave how beautiful they seem, Tow fair the lands we hasten to enjoy ! See, they have bound the waves in their employ! Borne on the shoulders of the ocean stream, Careless of sail, the great ships, in a dream, Glide, as we glide, by shoal and shining buoy! The steam-winged gods will welcome us in Wales ; Like a continuous breaker on the shore, They meet, they pass, and to the landing pour, With news of happy hills, and sunny vales ; Homeless we are, but flood and sunshine say,— Our hearts are home, on such a spring-tide day. 1 A suggestion from the long white waves of steam left by the flying trains, as they moved and met near Portskewet. The rail runs close by the shore, and the railway trains are visible from the steamboat in mid channel. BRISTOL SONNETS. 125 MIDDLE AGE; oR, AT TINTERN ABBEY. Wuey, with strict clause and consequential creed, Men cramped the truth, then, Tintern, it was well The hurricane of kingly passion fell Upon thy splendours! For God’s Flower has need Of light and air; and, like the thistle-seed, Must flutter hither, and there pausing, dwell! Oft self, not Christ, chose out the hermit’s cell ; And lying use, not love, would count the bead! Grey ruin, with thy Protestant reproof, The clouds do paint, the stars emboss thy roof ; For the dead stone, green Ivy, sculptures thee ! God, with His sunshine, now may enter free! And I, who scent the Daisies as I kneel, Can thank thy founders, and their purpose feel ! 126 _ A BOOK OF OLD AGE COMING ON; oR, AT TINTERN ABBEY. Peace, Strongbow,! peace! God rest thee, Walter Clare ;? And thee, whose sons did bear thee to thy grave! ? The tended turf has muffled all the Nave, And tufts of green have carpeted the stair ; And if we hear not now the hum of Prayer,— Far oxen’s mellow cry, the fall of wave, The pattering rain, the moan of winds that rave, Such sounds, of your old lives will keep us ’ware ! No more De Bigod’s * deeds of battle flame From Storied Panes along the Chancel floor, For God has filled the Window to His Name With Cloud, and Mountain, and with sunny Moor ; And through the open quatre-foils, in Spring, Where sad Monks chanted, joyous Blackbirds Sing. BRISTOL SONNETS. ‘127 NOTES TO “OLD AGE COMING ON,” &c. 2 Gilbert Strongbow, the nephew of Walter de Clare, the founder of the Monastery, died 1149 a.p., and was buried in “the Abbey. 2 Walter do Clare lies side by side with him, in the Monastery, which legend says he founded to atone for his cruelty in working the destruction of the unhappy inhabi- tants of the country. Obiit March 10, 1139 a.v. 3 Maud, eldest daughter of the Marshall Earl of Pembroke, married Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, and afterwards John de Warren, Earl of Surrey; she died in the year 1248, and ‘was buried in the choir. She was carried, dressed in her grave-clothes, and coroneted, upon a simple bier, on the shoulders of her four sons, Rogers, Hugh, Ralph, and John, and laid to rest under the high altar. 4The great window of the choir contained the heraldic achievements of Roger de Bigod, the second founder of the Abbey. 128 A BOOK OF DEATH; oR, THE LENNOX SPRING, BETWEEN MOSS COTTAGE AND TINTERN. Hz stood in battle, on the banks of Wye,! For Christ his King against the Saxons bold. Yea! though the Angel,? yestereve, had told That three days from the victory he should die ! To Pwll Brochwael the routed Pagans fly, But he, pale Tewdrig, lo! his wound is cold! And swift behind the stags his car is roll’d To the fair mead,* where only heroes lie! Art thou of those sweet sister founts, that burst In tears along the victor’s funeral road, sind where the chariot paused, in pity flowed To slake the king’s, the antlered coursers’ thirst ? Emblem of lamentation’s passionate grief, That gives to sorely wounded hearts relief ! BRISTOL SONNETS. 129 NOTES TO “DEATH,” &c. 1Tewdrig, or Theodoric, a devout King of Glamorgan, slain in battle in defence of the Christian religion against the Pagan Saxons, over whom he obtained a great victory on the banks of the Wye, near the ford of Tintern. 2‘ And the Angel of the Lord said to him on the night preceding, ‘Go, to-morrow, to assist the people of God against the enemies of the Church of Christ; and the enemy will turn their face to flight, as far as Pwll Brochwael ; . « but thou wilt be wounded by a single stroke in the district of Rhyd Tintern, and in three days die in peace.’ ’— Liber Liandavensis, or the Ancient Register of the Cathedrat Church of Llandaff. 3 The “Liber Llandavensis” recounts how the sorely-wounded king was conveyed in a chariot, drawn by two Heaven-sent stags, to a place near a meadow towards the Severn; and how, on the journey, “wheresoever they rested, there fountains flowed,’’ and when the final halt was made, “a most clear fountain flowed, and the carriage was completely broken ;’’ and how the saintly hero, ordering the stags to depart, commended his soul to God, and expired.—¢f. Lib. Liland, p. 384. « Now known as Mathern, near Chepstow, in the church of which place is to be seen a renovated inscription to the memory of the martyred king. In the church, built by his son Mewrig, or Maurice, according to his own directions, he was interred, in the year 600. Maurice also gave the con- tiguous estate to the Church, and named the place Merthwr Tewdrick, or, “The Martyrdom of Theodorick,” — Cr. Gopwin’s De Presulibus Anglia, p. 693. 130 A BOOK) OF CHEPSTOW CASTLE. I asx an entrance, and a little child, Without a challenge, opes the mailéd gate! Where with his booted Squires Fitz-Osborne! sate, The spurred cock struts, the garden flowers run wild. Where sweet-breathed ladies from the casements smiled, Gay wall flowers peep! Through towers machi- colate Fall the prized straws, while building Jackdaws prate ; And Ring-doves coo, where fighting men reviled ! At eyelet holes, the very Yews they bent Have grown to size, and shut the aim of bow ! The Swallows are the only arrows now! Unchecked the Ivy storms the battlement ! And while thy tower shades lessen in the Wye, I question peace, complain for chivalry ! 1 The Castle was built by Fitz-Osborne, Earl of Hereford, in the eleventh century ; and is spoken of as ‘‘ Castellum de Estrighoiel”’ in the Domesday Book. BRISTOL SONNETS. 131 THE WYND-CLIFF, ON AN APRIL DAY. Iv one should ask where England might be proud ? I'd set him here, upon an April day ; And he should see the Wye forget her way, And wander back ;! should watch the far seas ploughed To fruit by merchant keels ; and cloud on cloud Make islands in the Severn with their play ;? Sun, wind, and rain, mix seaward in affray ; From land to land th’ assuring rain-bow bowed ; Should feel the might of these full-blooded Yews, The rocks that wrestle with them, and their thews ; Airs breathed of Primrose, crystal from the showers, Should fan his bunch of Blue-bells and Wind- flowers ; The Wren sing every sorrow from his brow ; And he must thank his God, as I do now! 1The Wye here takes a sharp turn back upon itself in horse-shoe fashion. 2The clouds with their dark shadows make as it were islands in mid-Severn. 132 A BOOK oF THE MOSS COTTAGE, AT THE WYND-CLIFF. Hicu standing on that verge of Paradise, I asked for some assurance of the Fall; There was no sin, nor any grief at all, In that grand amphitheatre’s surprise ! Then from the trees beneath did smoke arise, Blue opaline, a vapoury coronal, That crowned with peace some cotter’s woodland hall, Where Mortal toils to eat and sleep, and dies ! Emblem of ill, and messenger of good ; Unthankful heart, and eyes that so repine ! Man knew not labour in his Eden-hood ; But fallen, oh! how beautiful this sign ! For, though the day be hard, it’s message brings Tales of home-fire, glad meals, warm evenings ! BRISTOL SONNETS. 133 ON DESCENDING THE WYND-CLIFF BY THE STEPS TO THE MOSS COTTAGE. As pown the cliff delightedly I stept, My feet cried out—a trespass had been done! For here were sights the Falcon knows alone ! Here, silence since the earth’s volcanoes slept ! Where only Moss-Elves dared to run, I crept! I watched the Yews’ grim battle with the stone ; Surprised in caves, for me dew-diamonds shone ; In tinkling grots the hills unveiléd wept! Love, born of reverence, took me by the hand, And gave me heart; new meanings filled the air ; These wild things trusted me, and were more fair, They spoke to me, and I could understand ! A new Wye rolled it’s lesson through the land ; New eyes, new feet were on that mountain stair! 134 A BOOK OF TINTERN ABBEY. Wuere orchards bloom, and morning pastures steam, Beggared by storm, and man’s inconstancy, A ruined Temple on the banks of Wye Lifts, like the sweet unfolding of a dream ; An agéd harp, that plays an ageless theme ! Above the ground where knight and abbot lie, Still in the choir the wind makes melody, And full of song the chantry cloisters seem ! Sing, for the river has the words by heart, “ To'serve a purpose, and to pass away ;” So all the hills, that sentinel thee, say ; So mean the happy Swallows as they dart ! Man, fretful, with the Bible on his knee, Has need of such sweet musicker as thee ! BRISTOL SONNETS. 135 TYNDALE’S PILLAR, AT NIBLEY KNOLL. Txov, by whose generous hands the clasps were riven, Which sealed from faltering men God’s easy Word, Which marred with intricate human knots the cord, And bound men earthward, while it strained for Heaven ! ‘Well was such prospect to thy memory given ‘Where Severn fills with light the thirsty ford, And gives the dewless lands her pearls to hoard, And rests the sails that have been tempest-driven ! For thou to shoals by casuistry concealed A full safe flood to God’s vexed vessels gave ; Brought light and dew upon the silver wave, With that—the pools, with this—refreshed the field! Wherefore to-day, of right, thy pillar stands A glorious presence to the sea and lands. 136 A BOOK OF THE DRAKESTONE EDGE. Ou, where is Heaven more near, the earth more fair ! About their pools the quiet farmyards lean, Elms canopy the flock, the Hawthorns screen The fresh young Wheat, and every rippling square Proclaims man’s toil and God’s continual care: Like a long pearl the Severn shines between ; And black and busy, from the hills of Dean,} The mines send forth their meaning to the air; Walls fence the farms, trees fence the fields’ increase, Sails watch the land, and mountains watch the sails, High over head Heaven’s solemn guard prevails, And God, Who governs all, proclaims His Peace; While, with the old earth’s miracle of youth, Tyndale, thy tower bespeaks that God a God of Truth. BRISTOL SONNETS. 137 NOTES TO “THE DRAKESTONE EDGE.” 1The smoke from iron and coal works in the Forest of Dean is distinctly visible from the Drakestone. 3 This tower commands one of the most extensive views in Gloucestershire, and was erected to the memory of Tyndale, the translator of the New Testament. He preached from the stone pulpit in College Green, in Bristol. He suffered at the stake for his generous opinions. His Testament, the first ever printed in English, is dated Dec. 25, 1525, and is now in the Baptist Museum of this his native City. 188 A BOOK OF BERKELEY CASTLE. Tue moat is dry, the drawbridge solid stone ; Green pear-trees spread their peace upon the walls; Now, children roll the harmless cannon-balls ! And hangs in dust the casque and habergeon ! Ask not the silver battle-piece 1 alone ; The knivéd chariot, where the rich grass falls,? And the blood-red valerian recalls, Berkeley, what deeds of vengeance thou hast done! Enter the Keep ; down let the lanthorn swing, It’s simple light burns dimmer as for shame! Hear how his one friend, Death, forsook the King ! And was a bitter subject when he came! % Then feel, ’neath Heaven, no worser thing is known Than brows too weak to bear so strong a crown ! \In the hall isa silver centre-piece, representing the Battle of Hastings, with the Danish prince, Harding, side by side with the Conqueror in the moment of victory. 2An allusion to the mowing machine at work in the meadows below the Castle. 3 Edward IT. was placed in the room, still shown, over the dungeon, where were thrown putrifying carcases of animals ; this not hastening his death, he was murdered, under cir- cumstances of atrocious barbarity, by Gournay and Maltra- vers, on the night of September 21st, 1327; his screams awoke the whole village. BRISTOL SONNETS. 139 | WARLEIGH, NEAR BATH. Lawns laid for Fancy, Vales for Memory’s feet! Our eyes must pass, our spirits still may stay ; And hearts, that ache in alleys far away, May hear thy mill-wheel’s comfortable beat ! Hands, feared of man, shall touch and not unseat Thy doves; feet soft with love not fright away The hare! Thy venerable trees shall sway Their cool and quiet down the dusty street ! Warleigh, the barge no more may loose its sail ; The road forsake thy garden terraces, The engine, crackling down its curve of rail, For ever furl it’s snow-white flag of peace ; But through the sun and shadow of thy vale Shall roads of Thought, and Fancy’s lanes increase ! 140 A BOOK OF THE BRISTOL MISSION OF 1877. ON HEARING THAT FUNDS WERE NEEDED FOR THE COMPLETION OF THE CATHEDRAL. Lert Self be hushed, let Christ alone be heard ! “Whom shall I send?” Lord God, send every- one! 1 And let the Powerful Myriads at Thy Throne Touch “lips unclean,” and strengthen feet that feared ! Then shall a Pure Cathedral be upreared ; Love shall select, Repentance fit the stone ! By the New Song of hearts in unison Shall God, in simple beauty, be revered ! With their New Master, Factory-men shall find Their labour Pleasure, that before was Pain ; The pale Wives smile, though words be still unkind ; And meat shall fill the Children’s mouths again ! While, in that Soul-Cathedral, Peace shall bind Hearts, that apart have made their zeal in vain! Isaiah vi. 5-8. BRISTOL SONNETS. 141 OLD CLEVEDON CHURCHYARD, WITH STEEP AND FLAT HOLMES IN THE DISTANCE. Wuere Hallam rests upon his hillside green, An arm the black land puts to sea, and there Two isles are lifted, separate, and sheer ; With constant watch the Severn moves between ; On this one, silence evermore hath been ; From that, by day the cannon’s voice is clear, At night, a star to vessels far and near, The crimson-headed light-house tower is seen ! Ye rock-built monuments that stand apart, One, dark and dumb, one, loud and lit with fire, Emblem of those immortal friends ye are ! 1 Death’s waters flow betwixt ye ;—one, his heart Is hushed ; one’s love is loud,—his words of fire Shine, through grief’s night, a pure memorial star ! ! Alfred Tennyson and Arthur Hallam, whose friendship “Tn Memoriam’? records. 142 A BOOK OF TENNYSON AT CLEVEDON. He missed the salt fresh eastern airs that blow, The mills that toss their white arms in the wind; His father’s ashes he had left, to find That urn of hope where Severn’s waters flow. Here, for his pipe, his native reeds might grow, But not so sweet! A stranger to his kind, An alien to his love and peace of mind, An exile still, his friend lies dust below! Then to sad eyes thy cottage gave reproof, Thy cottage, Coleridge, by the western sea, It’s simple chimneys, and it’s gable-end :— For he remembered there, his garret-roof? Hid in thy whispering poplars, Somersby ! And the lone poet found in thee a friend. 4 Coleridge’s Cottage, in build of chimney-stack and roof, reminds one strangely of Somersby Rectory. | ? Charles (now Charles Tennyson Turner) and Alfred Tennyson wrote much of their early poetry in a little garret-room, at the western gable-end of the Parsonage at Somersby, Lincolnshire. BRISTOL SONNETS. 143 THE THREE PICTURES OF ST. JOHN BAPTIST, IN THE BILLIARD ROOM AT LEIGH COURT. I saw how wrought by Santi’s dark-eyed son? The Boy forerunner of his playmate learned ; And near, that hand for which the Muses yearned,’ Old Vinci’s pride, had set the Man Saint John ; Lit in his wilderness communion. How like a torch his arm uplifted burned ; That torch to ash, Murillo, thou hast turned ! Hard by, the charger, and the Head thereon! “All flesh shall see ”—the pale lips seem to say— “Our God’s salvation!” swum in blood and gold, “Tt is not law, I tell thee as I told, “My words shall hound thee to the judgment day.* “Christ, by the stroke in black Machzrus’ hold,* “Thy messenger has but prepared Thy way!” 1 Raphael. 2 Leonardo da Vinci was from early to middle life famed for his musical skill. 3Saint Mark vi. 16-28. How the deed haunted the conscience-stricken Herod Antipas is well set forth in verse 16, 4Macherus (Makaur), the castle fortress on the western cliffs of the Dead Sea, in which John was beheaded, was, from its colour, called by the Rabbis the Black Fortress. 144 A BOOK OF BRISTOL SONNETS. THE OPENING OF THE AVONMOUTH DOCKS. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1877. Great future generations thronged the Quay ! Stood on our decks the mighty merchant Dead ! As to that prisoned ocean-flood we sped And shouts proclaimed the open water-way. Nor universal cheer! for on this day An ancient City sinks !1 so Fancy said, Its temples prayerless, halls untenanted ! Cranes idly drooped, warehouses in decay ! Avon, thine uncomplaining breast no more With silver arrows shall the rude keels break ; Thine arm, that thankless did for centuries take Our ships, may rest as in the days of yore ;? Another City at thy mouth we make, Hence send our fortunes, here expect our store ! 1 Bristol. ? Bristol as a port of great consequence is not known in history before the tenth century; but in Belgic-British and Roman times, there is evidence of it being of note. Cornell University Library PR 5209.R6B7 A book of Bristol sonnets. 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