“THE TABARD.
“Old Tabard! those time-honour'd timbers of thine.
Saw the pilgrims ride forth to St. Thomas's shrine;
When the good wife of Bath
Shed a light on their path.
And the squire told his tale of Cambuscan divine.
From his harem th' alarum shrill chanticleer crew,
And uprose thy host and his company too;
The knight rein'd his steed,
And a f Gentles, God speed!'
The pipes of the miller right merrily blew.
There shone on that morning a halo, a ray,
Old Tabard I round thee, that shall ne'er pass away;
When the fam'd Twenty-Nine
At the glorified shrine
Of their martyr went forth to repent and to pray.
Though ages have roll'd since that bright April morn,
And the steps of the shrine holy palmers have worn,
As, weary and faint,
They kneel'd to their saint—
It still for all time shall in memory be borne.
Old Tabard! old Tabard! thy pilgrims are we!
What a beautiful shrine has the Bard made of thee I
When a ruin's thy roof,
And thy walls, massy proof—
The ground they adorn'd ever hallow'd shall be.”