Inscription IV - For the Apartment in Chepstow Castle...
Robert Southey
For the Apartment in CHEPSTOW-CASTLE where HENRY MARTEN the Regicide was
imprisoned Thirty Years.
For thirty years secluded from mankind,
Here Marten linger'd. Often have these walls
Echoed his footsteps, as with even tread
He paced around his prison: not to him
Did Nature's fair varieties exist;
He never saw the Sun's delightful beams,
Save when thro' yon high bars it pour'd a sad
And broken splendor. Dost thou ask his crime?
He had rebell'd against the King, and sat
In judgment on him; for his ardent mind
Shaped goodliest plans of happiness on earth,
And peace and liberty. Wild dreams! But such
As PLATO lov'd; such as with holy zeal
Our MILTON worshipp'd. Blessed hopes! awhile
From man withheld, even to the latter days,
When CHRIST shall come and all things be fulfill'd.
Chepstow Castle is one of the oldest castles in Britain, dating from the earliest years of the Norman Conquest.
Henry Marten was one of the Commissioners who signed the death warrant of the executed King Charles II. He was imprisoned in the tower known as Marten's Tower.
