Proud Maisie is in the wood,

We’ll keep our Christmas merry still.Each age has deem’d the new-born yearThe fittest time for festal cheer:Even, heathen yet, the savage DaneAt Iol more deep the mead did drain;High on the beach his galleys drew,And feasted all his pirate crew;Then in his low and pine-built hallWhere shields and axes deck’d the wallThey gorged upon the…

Though bootless be the theme;I loved, and was beloved again,Yet all was but a dream:For, a her love was quickly got,So it was quickly gone;No more I’ll bask in flame so hot,But coldly dwell alone.Not maid more bright than maid was e’erMy fancy shall beguile,By flattering word, or feigned tear,By gesture, look, or smile:No more…

Still with fondness hovering nearThe earthly form thou once didst wear,Pause upon thy pinion’s flight;Be thy course to left or right,Be thou doomed to soar or sink,Pause upon the awful brink.To avenge the deed expellingThee untimely from thy dwelling,Mystic force thou shalt retainO’er the blood and o’er the brain.When the form thou shalt espyThat darken’d…

He is lost to the forest,Like a summer-dried fountain,When our need was the sorest.The font, reappearing,From the rain-drops shall borrow,But to us comes no cheering,To Duncan no morrow!The hand of the reaperTakes the ears that are hoary,But the voice of the weeperWails manhood in glory.The autumn winds rushingWaft the leaves that are searest,But our flower…

May boast itself the fairest flowerIn glen, or copse, or forest dingle.Though fair her gems of azure hue,Beneath the dew-drop’s weight reclining;I’ve seen an eye of lovelier blue,More sweet through wat’ry lustre shining.The summer sun that dew shall dry,Ere yet the day be past its morrow;No longer in my false love’s eyeRemain’d the tear of…

No haughty feat of arms I tell;Soft is the note, and sad the lay,That mourns the lovely Rosabelle.‘Moor, moor the barge, ye gallant crew!And, gentle ladye, deign to stay,Rest thee in Castle Ravensheuch,Nor tempt the stormy firth to-day.‘The blackening wave is edg’d with white:To inch and rock the sea-mews fly;The fishers have heard the Water-Sprite,Whose…

Still with fondness hovering nearThe earthly form thou once didst wear,Pause upon thy pinion’s flight;Be thy course to left or right,Be thou doomed to soar or sink,Pause upon the awful brink.To avenge the deed expellingThee untimely from thy dwelling,Mystic force thou shalt retainO’er the blood and o’er the brain.When the form thou shalt espyThat darken’d…

And hammers din, and anvil sounds,And armourers, with iron toil,Barb many a steed for battle’s broil,Foul fall the hand which bends the steelAround the courser’s thundering heel,That e’er shall dint a sable woundOn fair Glamorgan’s velvet ground!II.From Chepstow’s towers, ere dawn of morn,Was heard afar the bugle-horn;And forth, in banded pomp and pride,Stout Clare and…

(And grey-hair’d peasants say that theseBetoken foreign arms),Then look’d we down to Willisow,The land was all in flame;We knew the Archduke LeopoldWith all his army came.The Austrian nobles made their vow,So hot their heart and bold,‘On Switzer carles we’ll trample now,And slay both young and old.’With clarion loud, and banner proud,From Zurich on the lake,In…

From his true maiden’s breastParted for ever?Where, through groves deep and highSounds the far billow,Where early violets dieUnder the willow.Eleu loroSoft shall be his pillow.There through the summer dayCool streams are laving:There, while the tempests sway,Scarce are boughs waving;There thy rest shalt thou take,Parted for ever,Never again to wakeNever, O never!Eleu loroNever, O never!Where shall…

’Tis to him we love most,And to all who love him.Brave gallants, stand up,And avaunt ye, base carles!Were there death in the cup,Here’s a health to King Charles.Though he wanders through dangers,Unaided, unknown,Dependent on strangers,Estranged from his own;Though ’tis under our breath,Amidst forfeits and perils,Here’s to honor and faith,And a health to King Charles!Let such…

The glen is white with the drifted snow,And the path is hard to find.‘No outlaw seeks your castle gate,From chasing the King’s deer,Though even an outlaw’s wretched stateMight claim compassion here.‘A weary Palmer, worn and weak,I wander for my sin;O, open, for our Lady’s sake!A pilgrim’s blessing win!‘I’ll give you pardons from the Pope,And reliques…