The Castle of Otranto

Chapter 4: SONNET TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LADY MARY COKE.

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About This Book

A Gothic tale unfolds in an ancestral castle where a desperate lord confronts uncanny omens and a prophecy that his house will pass to an unknown heir. After a prodigious accident befalls his family, he pursues extreme measures to preserve his succession, provoking flight, secret parentage revelations, and violent confrontations. Supernatural events — apparitions, portentous signs, and inexplicable happenings in the castle — drive the action and expose buried truths. The plot culminates as hidden identities are uncovered, moral order is restored, and rightful inheritance and unions reestablish stability.

SONNET TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LADY MARY COKE.

The gentle maid, whose hapless tale
    These melancholy pages speak;
Say, gracious lady, shall she fail
    To draw the tear adown thy cheek?

No; never was thy pitying breast
    Insensible to human woes;
Tender, tho’ firm, it melts distrest
    For weaknesses it never knows.

Oh! guard the marvels I relate
Of fell ambition scourg’d by fate,
    From reason’s peevish blame.
Blest with thy smile, my dauntless sail
I dare expand to Fancy’s gale,
    For sure thy smiles are Fame.

H. W.