Page:Three Years in Europe.djvu/71

Rh of that room have been scribbled over by hundreds of visitors who at different times and from different countries came to pay homage to poetry and genius. Among these names we could make out the almost illegible names of Walter Scott and Charles Dickens. The house is in a very good state of preservation, and contains a museum, where among many interesting and curious objects we saw Shakespeare's signet ring. Not far from the house is the site of the "New place," that is, the house which Shakespeare bought later in life, and which has been pulled down since the death of the poet. Covered with shady lime-trees we saw the quiet church of Stratford-on-Avon, and inside the church the tombs containing the remains of Shakespeare and his wife. An inscription on Shakespeare's tombstone prohibits the removal of his bones from that place. By the side of this quiet church "lucid Avon strays," and not far is the park where Shakespeare is said to have sotlenstolen [sic] a deer. In the afternoon we left the quiet town of Stratford-on-Avon for Kenilworth.

Independently of the additional interest with which Sir W. Scott has invested the Kenilworth Castle, these colossal and stately ruins have an aspect of desolation and decayed greatness strongly suggestive of the days gone by. I lingered for over an hour among these boary ruins; and the colossal walls veiled by the mellow shades of the evening seemed from their very muteness to speak of the tilts and tournaments, the wars and festivities, the pride of queens and countesses, and the madness of ambition and power of which they have been silent witnesses.