Methought I floated sightless, nor did know

He loved thee-and thou mad’st him freeOf all the place thou comest from!

But he was there whose walking footCould make the wandering hills take root;And he had said, ‘Come down to me,’Else hadst thou not set foot on sea!Christ did not call thee to thy grave!Was it the boat that made thee brave?‘Easy for thee who wast not thereTo think thou more than I couldst dare!It hardly…

I’ the winter, corn ye’re sawin,I’ the hairst again ye hae’t.I’m gauin hame to see my mither;She’ll be weel acquant or this!Sair we’ll muse at ane anither‘Tween the auld word an’ new kiss!Love I’m doobtin may be scantyRoun ye efter I’m awa:Yon kirkyard has happin plentyClose aside me, green an’ braw!An’ abune there’s room for…

Had I been from the first true to the truth,Grant me, now old, to do-with better sight,And humbler heart, if not the brain of youth;So wilt thou, in thy gentleness and ruth,Lead back thy old soul, by the path of pain,Round to his best-young eyes and heart and brain.2.A dim aurora rises in my east,Beyond…

Holding that Nature lives from year to yearIn one continual round because she must-Set me not down, I pray you, in the dustOf all these centuries, like a pot of beer-A pewter-pot disconsolately clear,Which holds a potful, as is right and just!I will grow clamorous-by the rood, I will,If thus ye use me like a…

The mighty strength in which I trusted, fled,The long arms lying careless of kiss or blow;On thy tall form I see the night-robe flowDown from the pale, composed face-thy headCrowned with its own dark curls: though thou wast dead,They dressed thee as for sleep, and left thee so!My heart, with cares and questionings oppressed,Not oft…