DUNSTANBURGH CASTLE.
This commanding position was originally occupied by a British fortress, to which a Roman castellum succeeded: it was strengthened subsequently, at several periods, and rebuilt on a more extensive plan, by Thomas, Earl of Lancaster. In the year 1642 it was unroofed by order of Edward IV, from which period its decay has proceeded with a rapidity to be expected from a position so exposed. The castle and outworks covered nine square acres: the cliffs on the north side present a mural precipice of considerable height: and on the east front of the rock is a deep wave-worn excavation, called Rumble Churn, into which the tide rushed with so much violence, that the report of its lashes is heard at the distance of a mile from the spot.
There was no flag upon the mast,
None knew the vessel’s name,
What were the seas where she had past,
The country where she came.
The first grey dawn of morning light,
Shone through the sky of clouds;
But yet the darkness of the night
Was on that vessel’s shrouds.
The night now passing from the west,
But only served to show
The tumult of the ocean’s breast
The deeper night below.
Men gathered fast upon the sands
With eager aid—in vain—
What is might of human hands
To struggle with the main?
The beacon-fires upon the height
Are stronger than the day;
In vain their warning gleam was bright,
They could not point the way,
On high their crimson gleam is tost,
High on the hill-tops shed;
The first faint light of day is lost
Amid their fiercer red.
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