And thou, though strong in love, art all THE Knight had ridden down from Wensley
In reason, in self-government too slow;
I counsel thee by fortitude to seek
Our blest re-union in the shades below.
The invisible world with thee hath sym-
pathised;
Be thy affections raised and solemnized!
With the slow motion of a summer's cloud;
He turned aside towards a Vassal's door,
And: Bring another Horse! he cried aloud.
Another Horse! That shout the Vassal
heard,
And saddled his best steed, a comely gray;
Sir Walter mounted him; he was the third
Which he had mounted on that glorious day.
Learn by a mortal yearning to ascend
Towards a higher object :-Love was given,
Encouraged, sanctioned, chiefly for this end.
For this the passion to excess was driven-Joy sparkled in the prancing Courser's eyes;
That Self might be annulled; her bondage
prove
The fetters of a dream, opposed to love.
Aloud she shrieked; for Hermes re-appears! Round the dear Shade she would have clung -'tis vain:
The Horse and Horseman are a happy pair;
But though Sir Walter like a falcon flies,
There is a doleful silence in the air.
A rout this morning left Sir Walter's Hall,
That as they galloped made the echoes roar;
But Horse and Man are vanished, one and all;
Such race, I think, was never seen before.
The moving accident is not my trade:
To freeze the blood I have no ready arts:
'Tis my delight, alone in summer-shade,
To pipe a simple song for thinking hearts.
I've guessed, when I've been sitting in the sun,
That it was all for that unhappy Hart.
What thoughts must through the Creature's
brain have passed!
Even from the top-most Stone, upon the
Steep,
-and look, Sir, at
this last-
Are but three bounds
As I from Hawes to Richmond did repair,
It chanced that I saw standing in a dell
Three Aspens at three corners of a square,O Master! it has been a cruel leap.
And one, not four yards distant, near a Well.
Oh! say not so; compare them not;
I would not wrong thee, Champion brave!
Would wrong thee no where; least of all
Here standing by thy Grave.
For Thou,although with some wild thoughts,
Wild Chieftain of a savage Clan!
Hadst this to boast of: thou didst love
The liberty of Man.
And, had it been thy lot to live
With us who now behold the light,
Thou wouldst have nobly stirr'd thyself,
And battled for the right.
For thou wert still the poor man's stay,
The poor man's heart, the poor man's hand;
And all the oppress'd, who wanted strength,
Had thine at their command.
Bear witness many a pensive sigh
Of thoughtful herdsman when he strays
Alone upon Loch Veol's heights,
And by Loch Lomond's braes!
And, far and near, through vale and hill,
Are faces that attest the same;
And kindle, like a fire new stirr'd,
At sound of ROB Roy's name.
TO A HIGHLAND-GIRL.
(At Inversneyde, upon Loch Lomond.) SWEET Highland-Girl, a very shower Of beauty is thy earthly dower! Twice seven consenting years have shed Their utmost bounty on thy head: And these gray rocks; this household-lawn; These trees, a veil just half withdrawn; This fall of water, that doth make A murmur near the silent lake; This little bay, a quiet road That holds in shelter thy abode; In truth together ye do seem Like something fashion'd in a dream; Such Forms as from their covert peep When earthly cares are laid asleep! Yet, dream and vision as thou art, I bless thee with a human heart: God shield thee to thy latest years! I neither know thee nor thy peers; And yet my eyes are fill'd with tears.
With earnest feeling I shall pray
For thee when I am far away:
For never saw I mien, or face,
In which more plainly I could trace
Benignity and home-bred sense
Ripening in perfect innocence.
Here, scattered like a random seed,
Remote from men, Thou dost not need
The embarrassed look of shy distress,
And maidenly shamefacedness:
TO THE SONS OF BURNS AFTER VISITING THEIR Thou wearst upon thy forehead clear
FATHER'S GRAVE.
(August 14th, 1803.)
YE now are panting up life's hill!
"Tis twilight-time of good and ill,
And more than common strength and skill
Must ye display
If ye would give the better will
Its lawful sway.
Strong-bodied if ye be to bear
Intemperance with less harm, beware!
But if your Father's wit ye share,
Then, then indeed,
Ye Sons of Burns! for watchful care
There will be need.
For honest men delight will take
To shew you favor for his sake,
Will flatter you; and Fool and Rake
Your steps pursue:
And of your Father's name will make
A snare for you.
Let no mean hope your souls enslave;
Be independent, generous, brave!
Your Father such example gave,
And such revere!
But be admonish'd by his Grave,-
And think, and fear!
The freedom of a Mountaineer.
A face with gladness overspread!
Sweet looks, by human kindness bred!
And seemliness complete, that sways
Thy courtesies, about thee plays;
With no restraint, but such as springs
From quick and eager visitings
Of thoughts, that lie beyond the reach
Of thy few words of English speech:
A bondage sweetly brooked, a strife
That gives thy gestures grace and life!
So have I, not unmoved in mind,
Seen birds of tempest-loving kind,
Thus beating up against the wind.
What hand but would a garland cull
For thee who art so beautiful?
O happy pleasure! here to dwell
Beside thee in some heathy dell;
Adopt your homely ways and dress,
A Shepherd, thou a Shepherdess !
But I could frame a wish for thee
More like a grave reality:
Thou art to me but as a wave
Of the wild sea; and I would have
Some claim upon thee, if I could,
Though but of common neighbourhood.
What joy to hear thee, and to see!
Thy elder Brother I would be,
Thy Father, any thing to thee!
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