The Minstrel was infirm and old;His wither’d cheek, and tresses gray,Seem’d to have known a better day;The harp, his sole remaining joy,Was carried by an orphan boy.The last of all the Bards was he,Who sung of Border chivalry;For, welladay! their date was fled,His tuneful brethren all were dead;And he, neglected and oppress’d,Wish’d to be with…
The northern realms of ancient Caledon,Where the proud Queen of Wilderness hath placed,By lake and cataract, her lonely throne;Sublime but sad delight thy soul hath known,Gazing on pathless glen and mountain high,Listing where from the cliffs the torrents thrownMingle their echoes with the eagle’s cry,And with the sounding lake, and with the moaning sky.Yes! ’twas…
A stranger commanded —- it sunk on the land,It has frozen each heart, and benumb’d every hand!The dirk and the target lie sordid with dust,The bloodless claymore is but redden’d with rust;On the hill or the glen if a gun should appear,It is only to war with the heath-cock or deer.The deeds of our sires…
Round Norham Castle rolled,When all the loud artillery spoke,With lightning-flash, and thunder-stroke,As Marmion left the hold.It curled not Tweed alone, that breeze,For, far upon Northumbrian seas,It freshly blew, and strong,Where, from high Whitby’s cloistered pile,Bound to St. Cuthbert’s holy isle,It bore a barque along.Upon the gale she stooped her side,And bounded o’er the swelling tide,As…
Fire and sleete and candle lighte,And Christe receive thye saule.When thou from hence away are paste,Every nighte and alle;To Whinny-muir thou comest at laste;And Christe receive thye saule.If ever thou gavest hosen and shoon,Every nighte and alle;Sit thee down, and put them on;And Christe receive thye saule.If hosen and shoon thou ne’er gavest nane,Every nighte…
The genial call dead Nature hears,And in her glory reappears.But oh, my Country’s wintry stateWhat second spring shall renovate?What powerful call shall bid ariseThe buried warlike and the wise;The mind that thought for Britain’s weal,The hand that grasp’d the victor steel?The vernal sun new life bestowsEven on the meanest flower that blows;But vainly, vainly may…
I’ll wed ye to my youngest son,And ye sall be his bride:And ye sall be his bride, ladie,Sae comely to be seen’–But aye she loot the tears sown fa’For Jock of Hazeldean.‘Now let this wilfu’ grief be done,And dry that cheek so pale;Young Frank is chief of Errington,And lord of Langley-dale;His step is first in…
Ascending, wraps some capital in flame,Hath not a meaner or more sordid birth.And for the soul that bade him waste the earth—The sable land-flood from some swamp obscure,That poisons the glad husband-field with dearth,And by destruction bids its fame endure,Hath not a source more sullen, stagnant, and impure.Before that Leader strode a shadowy form,Her limbs…
All the jolly chase is hereWith hawk and horse and hunting-spear,Hounds are in their couples yelling,Hawks are whistling, horns are knelling,Merrily, merrily mingle theyWaken, lords and ladies gay.Waken, lords and ladies gay,The mist has left the mountain gray;Springlets in the dawn are steaming,Diamonds on the brake are gleaming;And foresters have busy beenTo track the buck…
Dost thou its former pride recall,Or ponder how it pass’d away?’-‘Know’st thou not me?’ the Deep Voice cried;‘So long enjoy’d, so oft misused-Alternate, in thy fickle pride,Desired, neglected, and accused!‘Before my breath, like blazing flax,Man and his marvels pass away!And changing empires wane and wax,Are founded, flourish, and decay,‘Redeem mine hours – the space is…
