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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79.

Pevensey

Pevensey

By William Lisle Bowles (1762–1850)

FALLEN pile! I ask not what has been thy fate,

But when the weak winds, wafted from the main,

Through each lone arch, like spirits that complain,

Come hollow to my ear, I meditate

On this world’s passing pageant, and the lot

Of those who once might proudly, in their prime,

Have stood with giant port, till, bowed by time

Or injury, their ancient boast forgot,

They might have sunk like thee; though thus forlorn

They lift their heads with venerable hairs

Bespent, majestic yet, and as in scorn

Of mortal vanities and short-lived cares;

Even so dost thou, lifting thy forehead gray,

Smile at the tempest, and Time’s sweeping sway!