Henry Alford

Haddon Hall, Derbyshire, July, 1836

NOT fond displays of cost, nor pampered train
Of idle menials, me so much delight,
Nor mirrored halls, nor roofs with gilding bright,
Nor all the foolery of the rich and vain,
As these time-honored walls, crowning the plain	
With their gray battlements; within bedight
With ancient trophies of baronial might,
And figures dim, inwoven in the grain
Of dusky tapestry. I love to muse
In present peace, on days of pomp and strife;
The daily struggles of our human life,
Seen through Time’s veil, their selfish coloring lose,
As here the glaring beams of outer day
Through ivy-shadowed oriels softened play.