[
The
following
Poem
is
formed
on
a
very
singular
and
sublime
idea
.
A
young
gentleman
,
possessed
of
an
uncommon
genius
for
drawing
,
on
visiting
the
Tower
of
London
,
passing
one
door
of
a
singular
construction
,
asked
what
apartment
it
led
to
,
and
expressed
a
desire
to
have
it
opened
.
The
person
who
shewed
the
place
shook
his
head
,
and
answered
,
"
Heaven
knows
what
is
within
that
door
—
it
has
been
shut
for
ages
.
"
This
answer
made
small
impression
on
the
other
hearers
,
but
a
very
deep
one
on
the
imagination
of
this
youth
.
Gracious
heaven
!
an
apartment
shut
up
for
ages
—
and
in
the
Tower
!
"
Ye
Towers
of
Julius
!
London's
lasting
shame
,
By
many
a
foul
and
midnight
murder
fed
.
"
Genius
builds
on
a
slight
foundation
,
and
rears
beautiful
structures
on
"
the
baseless
fabric
of
a
vision
.
"
The
above
transient
hint
dwelt
on
the
young
man's
fancy
,
and
conjured
into
his
memory
all
the
murders
which
history
records
to
have
been
committed
in
the
Tower
:
Henry
the
Sixth
,
the
Duke
of
Clarence
,
the
two
young
Princes
sons
of
Edward
the
Fourth
,
Sir
Thomas
Overbury
,
&c.
He
supposes
all
their
ghosts
assembled
in
this
unexplored
apartment
,
and
to
these
his
fertile
imagination
has
added
several
others
.
One
of
the
spectres
raises
an
immense
pall
of
black
velvet
,
and
discovers
the
remains
of
a
murdered
royal
family
,
whose
story
is
lost
in
the
lapse
of
time
.
—
The
gloomy
wildness
of
these
images
struck
my
imagination
so
forcibly
,
that
,
endeavouring
to
catch
the
fire
of
the
youth's
pencil
,
this
fragment
was
produced
.
]