text:  Alas that thus the human heart should pay Too willing homage to thy bloody sway; Should stoop submissive to a fiend sublime And venerate e'en the majesty of crime! How soon to those that tempt thee art thou near-- To prompt direct and steel the heart to fear! Oh not to such the voice of peace shall speak Nor placid zephyr fan their fever'd cheek; Sleep ne'er shall seal their hot and blood-stain'd eye But conscious visions ever haunt them nigh; Grandeur to them a faded flower shall be Wealth but a thorn and power a fruitless tree; And as they near the tomb with panting breast Shrink from the dread unknown yet hope no rest! Stern towers of strength! once bulwarks of the land When feudal power bore sway with sovereign hand-- Frown ye no more--the glory of the scene-- Sad silent witness of what crimes have been! Accurst the day when first our Norman foe Taught Albion's high-born Saxon sons to bow 'Neath victor-pride and insolence--learn to feel What earth's dark woes--when abject vassals kneel; And worse the hour when his remorseless heir Alike uncheck'd by heaven or earthly prayer With lusts ignoble fed by martial might Usurp'd man's fair domains and native right