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MEDITATIONS
19
What if the glory of escutcheoned doors,
And buildings that a haughtier age designed,
The pacing to and fro on polished floors
Amid great chambers and long galleries, lined
With famous portraits of our ancestors;
What if those things the greatest of mankind,
Consider most to magnify, or to bless,
But take our greatness with our bitterness!
II
MY HOUSE
An ancient bridge, and a more ancient tower,
A farmhouse that is sheltered by its wall,
And buildings that a haughtier age designed,
The pacing to and fro on polished floors
Amid great chambers and long galleries, lined
With famous portraits of our ancestors;
What if those things the greatest of mankind,
Consider most to magnify, or to bless,
But take our greatness with our bitterness!
II
MY HOUSE
An ancient bridge, and a more ancient tower,
A farmhouse that is sheltered by its wall,
