For wearied in that dungeon aisle,
In smiles I even found relief.
I watched them in that dreary gloom,
(To me a heaven—to them a tomb,)
For hours—for days—and joyed to hear
Their pleadings fill that sepulchre.
At first they tried to lull their state
By cheering each thro’ that dull grate,
(For this they lingered separate;
I could not bear e’en then to see