Alexander Anderson

A Castle Old and Grey

I never see a castle
 That is gaunt and grey and grim,
But my thoughts at once go backward
 To the past so misty and dim.

To the time when tower and turret,
 Kept watch far over the vale;
And along the sounding draw-bridge
 Rode knights in their suits of mail.

I see the sunshine glancing
 On helmet, pennon, and spear;
And hear from the depth of the forest,
 A bugle calling clear.

I fill the hall with visions
 Of ladies rich in their bloom;
And stately knights in armour,
 And waving with feather and plume.

If I climb the broken stairway,
 Where the stone is smooth and fine,
I hear a rustle and whisper,
 And footsteps in front of mine.

Whisper of youth and maiden,
 As they met in the long ago;
His deep and strong and manly,
 Hers tender and sweet and low.

But maiden and youth have vanished,
 Away from the scene and the light;
Gone, too, the high-born lady,
 And the plumed and armoured knight.

Only the grey old castle,
 Of crumbling stone and lime,
Still stands to speak of the ages,
 And the iron footsteps of Time.