Classic Poem

I.

Did the wild blast of battle sound,
Of old, from yonder lonely mound?
Race of Pendragon! did ye pour,
On this dear earth, your votive gore?

II.

Did stern swords cleave along this plain
The loose rank of the roving Dane?
Or Norman chargers' sounding tread
Smite the meek daisy's Saxon head?

III.

The wayward winds no answer breathe,
No legend cometh from beneath,
Of chief, with good sword at his side,
Or Druid in his tomb of pride.

IV.

One quiet bird that comes to make
Her lone nest in the scanty brake;
A nameless flower, a silent fern —
Lo! the dim stranger's storied urn.

V.

Hark! on the cold wings of the blast
The future answereth to the past;
The bird, the flower, may gather still,
Thy voice shall cease upon the hill!