Classic Poem

Written on the 10th of November, on the eve of departure from Mulgrave Castle.

Sweet Eighteen Hundred Ten and Nine,
Who art, like me, on the decline,
?I prize thee beyond measure!
Whate'er my days when thine are past,
I shall remember, to my last,
?What store thou brought'st of pleasure.
But listen to the reason why
I hail thee, Annus Domini,
?In language so endearing;
Nay, patience! 'tis not much to give,
From full seven weeks thou hast to live,
?A bare five minutes' hearing.
Thy tour above two-thirds was run
Ere my excursion I begun,
?Due north in its direction,
To view once more now I am grey,
Scenes where my boyhood loved to stray;
?A feast for retrospection!
Snug in the coach's corner placed,
How fondly my “mind's eye” retraced
?The spot where I was going;
The house, its door, the bowling-green,
The stables, and the wood scarce seen,
?All, all in memory glowing.
“Yet ah!” sighed I, “Fate would not spare
Him who first bade me welcome there,
?And touched my feelings nearly:
Still there are brothers longer known,
With ages closer to my own,
?Whom I regard most dearly.”
Arrived at length within those bounds,
Where Taste now adds throughout the grounds
?To nature's rich vagaries,
Cried I, “At Mulgrave all I see
Has changed save Mulgrave's lord to me—
?His kindness never varies.”
“The house a castle grown I find;
Before it was, before, behind;
?The bowling-green has vanished;
Stables unstably have retired,
And woods on woods are now admired,
?Which erst from sight were banished.
The landscapes of this wide domain
Tried I in doggerel to explain,
?To epic length 'twould spin it;
But though the castle boasts no doubt
Such various beauties from without,
?Still greater charms are in it.
For there the noble owners sit;
The host replete with social wit,
?The hostess with good-nature;
But named I all who there delight,
'Twould only be in full to write
?Their kindred's nomenclature.
Then Eighteen Hundred Ten and Nine,
The joy thou givest this breast of mine,
?All transient joy eclipses;
My daily thoughts will turn to thee,
And daily dedicated be
?To Friendship and the Phippses.