Classic Poem

I.

I STOOD on the spot where the famed T ALIESSIN ,
That " Prince of the Bards," had his dwelling of old;
Dark thoughts on my memory, unbidden, were pressing
Of hopes wildly thwarted, and friendships grown cold!

II.

Eve was yielding to twilight; yet still richly glowing,
The deep skies reflected the sun that had fled;
And below me, in musical murmurs, were flowing
The bright purple waters of Lynn Geirionedd.

III.

I looked on the mighty hills gathered around it, —
That train of dark giants, with cloud-girded brows;
And I thought of the minstrel whose fame had so crowned it,
As I gazed on their summits of shadows and snows.

IV.

I turned to the wreck that remained of his dwelling, —
The ruin that time and the tempest had spared;
But a few scattered stones, and a mound rudely swelling,
Were all that arose there to claim a regard.

V.

I called on his name who had roused from her slumbers
Sweet Echo, how oft, in her green-bosomed lair;
I asked, where, and oh where, breathes he now his wild numbers?
And the mountains around answered, " where, and oh where?"

VI.

Years have fleeted since then; — but in sickness and sadness,
As I muse on the hopes that once promised so fair,
I ask, where, and oh where, are those visions of gladness?
And my bosom's deep cell echoes, " where, and oh where?"