Or, shipwreck'd, kindles on the coast False fires, that others may bo lost.8 TO THE BEV. DB. WOEDSWOETH. The Minstrels play'd their Christmas tune Through hill and valley every breeze And who but listeu'd? —till was paid O Brother I I revere the choice Yet, would that Thou, with me and mine, Hadst heard this never-failing rite; And seen on other faces shine A true revival of the light Which Nature and these rustic Powers, In simple childhood, spread through ours 1 For pleasure hath not ceased to wait How touching, when, at midnight, sweep of con L: ^ n is rather ofa"sermouistng character; but 1 co'ild not well resist the temptation to isert so much of it. Or, at an earlier call, to mark, The mutual nod, — the grave disguise Ah I not for emerald flelds alone, Hail, ancient Manners! sure defence, Bear with me, Brother! quench the thought That slights this passion, or condemns; s, they can make, who fail to find, Hence, while th' imperial City's din AT THE GRAVE OF BURNS. l803. SEVEN TEAES AFTER HIS DEATH. " Shiver, Spirit fieree and bold, « thought of what I now behold : ps vapours breathed from dungeons cold Strike pleasure dead, Where Burns is laid. ave I then thy bones so near, I shrink with pain; Alike are vain. Off, weight, — nor press on weight! — away, [stay : Dark thoughts! — They came, bnt not to The tribnte due From mortal view. Fresh as the flower, whose modest worth For so it seems, With matehless beams. The piereing eye, the thoughtful brow, The prompt, the brave, And silent grave. I monrn'd with thousands, bnt as one More deeply grieved, for He was gone Whose light I hail'd when first it shone, And show'd my yonth How Verse may build a princely throne On humble trnth. Alas! where'er the current tends, By Skiddnw seen; — Neighbour* wu were, and loving friend* We might have been; True friends though diversely inclined; Through Nature's skill More closely still. The tear will start, and let ii flow: Might we together Or on wild heather.' What treasures would have then been placed Within my reach! of knowledge graced By fancy what a rich repast I Bnt whvgoon? — O, spare to sweep, thou mournful blast. His grave grass-grown! There, too, a Son, his joy and pride, Soul-mo ving sight I Some sad delight. For he is safe, a quiet bed Hath early found among the dead, Harbour'd where none can be misled Wrong'd, or distrest; That such are blest. And, O, for Thee, by pitying grace Where Man is laid For which it pray'd! standing in sight of each other, are the most conspicuous objects in their several places, they are well taken to represent the geographical nearness of the two poet?. 9 Oowan is a Scoteh word for daisy. The poet had in mind Burns' beaunfla stanzas To a Mountain Daisy. Sighing 1 turn'd away; but ere A ritual hymn, By Seraphim.i THOUGHTS SUGGESTED THE DAY FOLLOWING, ON THE BANKS OP NITH, NEAB TUB 1'OET'S RESIDENCE. Too frail to keep the lofty Vow That must have follow'd when his brow Was wreathed (The Vision tells us how) With holly spray, And pass'd away. Well might such thoughts, dear Sister, throng Our mini I ~ when, lingering all too long. In social grief, — To seek relief. But, leaving each unquiet theme Of good and fair, Breathe hopeful air. Enough of sorrow, wreck, and blight; His course was true, And virtue grew. Yes, freely let our hearts expand. We wont to stray, How oft inspired must he have trod With mirth elate, The Rustic sate. Proud thoughts that Image overawes; And by what rules That shames the Schools. Through busiest street and loneliest glea Are felt the flashes of his pen; He rules 'mid winter snows, and when Bees flii their hives; His power survives. What need of fields in some far clime From genuine springs, Folds up his wings ? Sweet Mercy! to the gates of Heaven With vain endeavour. Effaced for ever. But why to Him confine the prayer. With all that live? — Just God, forgive I 1 This piece, as also several of those that follow, grow out of the tour that the poet and his sister made through Scotland m 1803. In a note-on the piece, the nuthoi has the following: " Wetalked of Burns, and of the prospect he must have had, 'jerhaps from his own door, of Skiddaw md his companions; indulging ourselves .u the fancy that we might have been personally known to each other, and he have looked upon those objects with more pleasure lor our sakes." TO THE SONS OF BUKNS, AFTER VISITING THE GRAVE OF THEIB FATHER. 'MID erowded obelisks and urns I sought th' untimely grave of Burns: Sons of the Bard, my heart still mourns With sorrow true; And more would grieve, but that it turni Trembling to you. Through twilight shades of good and ill Fe now are panting up life's lull; And more than common strength and Must ye display, [skill If ye would give the better will Its lawful sway. Hath Nature strung your nerves to bear Like him can speed There will be need; For honest men delight will take Your steps pursue; A snare for you. Far from their noisy hannts retire, With service meet; Ilis spirit greet; Or where.'mid " lonely heights and hows," Bedew'd with toil, Upturn'd the soil; His judgment with benignant ray Let faith be given; Is light from Heaven." ' Let no mean hope your souls enslave; And such revere; And think, and fearl COMPOSED AT CORA LINN,' IN SIGHT OF WALLACE'S TOWER. iOKD of the vale! astounding Flood, The dullest leaf in this thick wood Quakes, conscious of thy power; 'he caves reply with hollowmoan; And vibrates, to its central stone, Yon time-cemented Tower I And yet how fair the rural scene I Beneficent as strong; The little trembling flowers that peep Thy shelving rocks among. Hence all who love their country, love ?o look on thec, — delight to rove iVhere they thy voice can hear; And, to the patriot-warrior's Shade, Along thy hanks, at dead of night, But clouds and envious darkness hide Less than divine command they spurn; The man of abject soul in vain 2 This quotation is from Burns' poem The Vision: " I saw thy pulse's maddening play Wild send tnee pleasure's devious way, Misled by Fancy's meteor ray, By passion driven; Was light from Heaven." 3 Linn is Scottish for waterfall or coscade. — The anthor's notes here furnish the following: " I had seen this celebrated Waterfall twice before: but the feelings to which it had given birth were not ex pressed till they recurred in presence of the object on this occasion." —The poet made a second tour in Scotland in iha Summer of 1814. That etilI invests the guardian Pass, And let no Slave his head incline, Or knenl, before the votive shrine By Uri's lake, where Tell Leapt. from his storm-vext boat, to land, Heaven's Instrument, for by his hand That day the Tyran t fell. [l8U. TO A HIGHLAND GIRL. (At Inversneydc, upon Loch Lomond.) Sweet Highland Girl, a very shower Of beanty is thy earthly dower! Twice seven consenting years have shed Their ntmost bounty on thy head: And these grey rocks; that household lawn; Those trees, a veil just half withdrawn; With earnest feeling I shall pray "om quick and eager visitingu Of thoughts that lie beyond the reach What hand bnt would a garland cull For thee who art so beantiful ? O happy pleasure! here to dwell Thou art to me bnt as a wave Of the wild sea; and I would have Some claim upon thee, if I could, Though bnt of common neighbourhood. What joy to hear thee, and to see! Thy elder Brother I would be, Thy Father, anything to thee I Now thanks to Heaveu I that of its grace l bear away my recompense. Our Memory, feel that she hath eyes: Then, why should I be loth to stir? I feel this place was made for her; To give new pleasure like the past, Continued long as life shall last. Nor am I loth, though pleased at heart, Sweet Highland Gir!! from thee to parti For I, methinks, till I grow old, As fair before me shall behold, As I do now, the cabin small, The lake, the bay, the waterfall; And Thee, the Spirit of them all !« [l803. STEPPING WESTWARD. While my Fellow-traveller and I \vea walking by the side of Loch Kettenno, one flue evening aftfr sunset, in out road to a Hut where, in the course ol our Tour, we ha^ 'ieen hospitably eit tertained some wet.ts before, we met, in one of the loneliest parts of that solitary 4 The sort of prophecy with which these verses aoncludc has, through GoiT; gomlness, been realised; and now, :ip. proaching my 73d year, I have a mo«! vivid remembrance of her and the beau tifnl objects with which she was Sut rounded. — Authur's Aoies. |