Untouched through all severity of cold; Inviolate, whate'er the cottage hearth Might need for comfort, or for festal mirth; That Pile of Turf is half a century old: Yes, Traveller! fifty winters have been told 5 Since suddenly the dart of death went forth 'Gainst him who raised it,--his last work on earth: Thence has it, with the Son, so strong a hold Upon his Father's memory, that his hands, Through reverence, touch it only to repair[646] 10 Its waste.--Though crumbling with each breath of air, In annual renovation thus it stands-- Rude Mausoleum! but wrens nestle there, And red-breasts warble when sweet sounds are rare. FOOTNOTES: [645] Compare the Fenwick note to _A Tradition of Oker Hill in Darley_ _Dale, Derbyshire_, p. 230.--ED. [646] 1837. Thence by his Son more prized than aught which gold Could purchase--watched, preserved by his own hands, That, faithful to the Structure, still repair 1832. 1830 The Poems written in 1830 include, _The Armenian Lady's Love_, _The Russian Fugitive_, _The Egyptian Maid_, the Elegiac Stanzas on Sir George Beaumont, and several minor pieces.--ED. THE ARMENIAN LADY'S LOVE Composed 1830.--Published 1835 The subject of the following poem is from the Orlandus of the author's friend, Kenelm Henry Digby: and the liberty is taken of inscribing it to him as an acknowledgment, however unworthy, of pleasure and instruction derived from his numerous and valuable writings, illustrative of the piety and chivalry of the olden time.--W. W. [Written at Rydal Mount.--I. F.] One of the "Poems founded on the Affections."--ED. I You have heard "a Spanish Lady How she wooed an English man;"[647] Hear now of a fair Armenian, Daughter of the proud Soldàn; How she loved a Christian Slave, and told her pain 5 By word, look, deed, with hope that he might love again. II "Pluck that rose, it moves my liking," Said she, lifting up her veil; "Pluck it for me, gentle gardener, Ere it wither and grow pale." 10 "Princess fair, I till the ground, but may not take From twig or bed an humbler flower, even for your sake!" III "Grieved am I, submissive Christian! To behold thy captive state; Women, in your land, may pity 15 (May they not?) the unfortunate." "Yes, kind Lady! otherwise man could not bear Life, which to every one that breathes is full of care." IV