WASTE LANDS. 



103 



hath smote thee, and changed thy garland of 

 roses into one of rue and wormwood? For- 

 merly thy fair face must have beamed with 

 many smiles ; for thou wert known through- 

 out the land, by the name of * Merry Wake- 

 field.' 



u And very merry must have been thy days : 

 for thy merchants were prosperous, thy peo- 

 ple happy, and thy prison empty; ay, so empty, 

 that time was when not one single captive 

 could be found within its walls. There was 

 Westgate Common open to thy people and to 

 all the world besides, and the Outwood too ; 

 and here it was that thy merry sons and daugh- 

 ters came to dance, and sing, and to drive dull 

 care away. But these once-famed rural haunts 

 for mirth and glee are now no longer thine : 

 the iron hand of private interest fell heavy on 

 them ; and they were lost to thee for ever. 

 Oh, how cruel and unjust it was, to sever from 

 thee those delightful walks which the foresight 

 and good sense of our ancestors had apportioned 

 for thy welfare and left at thy command ! 



" All, all is now changed for the worse : and 

 sad and sorrowful have the scenes become, 

 which were once so bright and joyous : and 



H 4 



