Drayton Hall will close at 1:30pm on Saturday, December 21, 2024. We will return to normal hours on Sunday, December 22.
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Lessons in Love from Drayton Hall

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Drayton Hall Decorative Arts collection do not reproduce

 

In honor of Valentine’s Day, a reminder that there are many wonderful love stories which occurred at Drayton Hall in seven generations. This year we choose to share a few sweet verses from the Drayton Hall Decorative Arts Collection.

THE COURTSHIP POETRY of CHARLES DRAYTON III to SARAH PARKER c. 1844

9

Her flaxen hair was free from hand,
Her fair cheek rested on her hand;
Her blue eyes sought the best afar,
For lovers love the western star.”

10

Marvel not that I love to dwell,
That I my feelings like to tell;
But pause! And listen and list again,
Whilst I relate the melancholy strain.

11

From you how many words to cheer,
In pity half and half in fear;
Must I forsooth forbear to hear?
I love thee and that in truth sincere.

From the Drayton Hall Preservation Trust

Decorative Arts Collection

A gift of

Charles H. Drayton, Jr. and Julia S. Drayton, 2016

Charles and Sarah were married in 1846 and gratefully, would have two children, Charles Henry (1847-1915) and Robert Daniel Parker Drayton (1849-1871) before Charles died in 1852, after only six years of marriage to his beloved Sarah.