And stern as beautiful:--but words would fail
To paint thy ruin'd glories, though the gale
Of desolation sweeps thro' thy hoar pile,
And waves the long grass thro' thy cloisters pale
Where the dark ivy scorns day's garish smile,
And weed-grown fragments crown thy desecrated aisle.

* * * *

How sweet the sounds!--whose soft enchantments rose
'Mid those wild woodlands at the matin prime--
Or when the vesper song at evening's close
Wafted the soul beyond the cares of time,
To that Elysium of a brighter clime
Where thro' heaven's portals golden vistas gleam,
And the high harps of Seraphim sublime
Came o'er the spirit like a prophet's dream,
Till faded earth away on glory's endless beam.

Oft the proud feudal chief, whom human law
Or kingly pow'r could bind not, nor control,
Has paus'd before thy gates in holy awe,
And felt religion's charm subdue his soul--
The heart that joy'd to hear the savage howl
Of battle on the breeze, has soften'd been--
List'ning the hymns of peace that sweetly stole
O'er this lone vale, where fancy's eye hath seen
Forms bright and angel-like glide thro' thy vistas green:

And angel forms here at thy altar knelt,
Fair dames, and gentle maidens whose bright eyes
The sternest heart of warrior-mould could melt,
Soft'ning grim war with gen'rous sympathy--
Pleading, like pity wafted from the skies
To quell the stormy rage of savage man:
And hence the gentle manners had their rise--
Hence knights for lady's praise all dangers ran--
And thus, the glorious age of chivalry began.

The Abbey derives its name (the Vale of the Cross) from a sepulchral
monument commonly called "THE PILLAR OF ELISEG," which stands on an
ancient tumulus in the middle of this beautifully secluded glen. It was
erected by Cyngen ab Cadell Dryrnllug, in memory of his great grandfather
Eliseg, whose son Brochmail Ysgythrog, grandfather of the founder of this
rude monument of filial veneration, was engaged in the memorable border
wars at the close of the sixth century; and was defeated at the Battle of
Chester, A.D. 607. During the great rebellion this pillar was thrown
down by Oliver Cromwell's "Reformers," who in their fiery zeal for
destruction mistook it for a "Popish Cross;" and it remained for more
than a century in its broken recumbent condition, when it was restored by
the patriotis