‘Hush, a little, for harp and rhyme;
This befell in the olden time.’
W. Allingham.
In days of old, as rimesters tell,
(Culvert, and petrel, and mangonel),
A maiden dwelt in a castle stout,
Guarded and walled, within, without,
And ever defeat and direful rout
To all her castle’s besiegers fell.
No suitor the maid’s proud heart could win,