ROBERT OF NORMANDY.
["This unfortunate son of William the Conqueror seems to have been born to be the sport of fortune, or rather the victim of his own indiscretion. He was a prince of great courage, and for some time of great reputation. But his profusion and thoughtless imprudence caused him twice to lose the opportunity of ascending the throne of England, which was his indisputable birth-right. After spending his youth amidst toil and fatigues, he saw himself at last deprived of his fortune, his friends and his freedom, and condemned to languish the remainder of his days in hopeless captivity. He expired in Cardiff Castle, where he had been kept twenty-six years a prisoner."—Bigland's History of England.]
Alone! alone! when wilt thou cease to be,
O, weary life? when, when shall I be free?
Too long, too long I pine! the caged bird
From its wire-prison mournfully is heard
Pleading for sympathy! but I no more!
The hopes that led me on, dreams can restore
To me no longer. I have dreamed in vain!
The cherished visions will not come again
To cheer my prison-house; they too forsake,
And leave my heart in loneliness to break
In its own sepulchre—to perish o'er
The glorious things it worshiped so before—
Life's withered flowers, affection's broken ties,
And deeds of valor that around me rise
In glittering ruins!
O, weary life? when, when shall I be free?
Too long, too long I pine! the caged bird
From its wire-prison mournfully is heard
Pleading for sympathy! but I no more!
The hopes that led me on, dreams can restore
To me no longer. I have dreamed in vain!
The cherished visions will not come again
To cheer my prison-house; they too forsake,
And leave my heart in loneliness to break
In its own sepulchre—to perish o'er
The glorious things it worshiped so before—
Life's withered flowers, affection's broken ties,
And deeds of valor that around me rise
In glittering ruins!
