
A dark enigma to the memory. Image credit Littlestone
…and when you die, I will erect a monument,
Upon the verdant plains of Salisbury,
No king shall have so high a sepulchre,
With pendulous stones, that I will hang by art,
Where neither lime nor mortar shall be used,
A dark enigma to the memory,
For none shall have the power to number them;
A place that I will hallow for your rest;
Where no night-hag shall walk, nor were-wolf tread,
Where Merlin’s mother shall be sepulchred.
William Rowley (1690–1768) and also occasionally ascribed to Shakespeare.



4 comments
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26/04/2009 at 12:58
me2watson
I see, the sprites quickly vanished,
and wonder what it is that lies
beyond the yonder cairn,
that the ancients built in memorial
to the enigmatic gods of Salisbury.
Luv the pic! Uncle Tree
A Leprechaun’s Gaze
http://me2watson.wordpress.com/
26/04/2009 at 23:10
gjrk
“And passing the Firbolgs’ burial-mounds,
Came to the cairn-heaped grassy hill
Where passionate Maeve is stony-still;”
from “The Wanderings of Oisín” by Yeats.
Miosgán Meadhbha (Maeve’s Cairn), on top of Knocknarea*, Co. Sligo.
*Rea may refer to a plain/flat, as in the stone circle at Reanascreena, Co. Cork, but is frequently translated here as King (Rí), that is; ‘Hill of the King’.
27/04/2009 at 22:12
me2watson
Re: A Leprechaun’s Gaze
I’m sorry! It wasn’t nice of me to advertise
a particular piece of mine and not leave a
direct link. Maybe, I shouldn’t do this, either.
But somebody here was looking for it, so I will.
It’s in my March archives, and there are four parts.
You can see the entire rhyme (130+ lines)
in one piece right here: (If this is approved)
http://grafetti.wordpress.com/2009/03/04/a-leprechauns-gaze/
Thank you! Uncle Tree
28/04/2009 at 08:27
heritageaction
Thank you for your comments Uncle Tree. You may also be interested in the two following sites dedicated to poems on the megalithic theme: http://megalithicpoems.blogspot.com/ and http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/forum/?thread=23046