Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79.
The Ringers of Lancell’s Tower
By Robert Stephen Hawker (1803–1875)T
With furrowed cheek and failing hand;
One peal to-day they fain would ring,
The jubilee of England’s king!
The sinewy arm, the laughing brow,
The strength that hailed, in happier times,
King George the Third with lusty chimes?
No goodlier sight hath hall or bower;
Meekly they strive, and closing day
Gilds with soft light their locks of gray.
They welcomed him to land and throne;
So e’er they die they fain would ring
The jubilee of England’s king.
Fast fade such scenes from field and dell;
How wilt thou lack, my own dear land,
Those trusty arms, that faithful band!