Rowena & Harold / A Romance in Rhyme of an Olden Time, of Hastyngs and Normanhurst

A narrative poem in rhymed stanzas follows a noble maiden and the knight she loves, whose union is forbidden by her proud father. The knight sails to the Holy Land, is grievously wounded and rescued by a captive maiden who later flees with him, while the waiting woman endures lonely vigils, enforced religious life, dungeons, shipwreck and subterranean peril. Episodes of smuggling, mistaken deaths, escape, supernatural menace and legal redress lead through suffering to reconciliation and a royal pardon. The verse alternates lyrical songs and dramatic episodes to examine love, loyalty, endurance and deliverance.