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University of Virginia Library

Records and Other Poems

By the late Robert Leighton

Leighton, Robert (1822-1869)

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I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

X.

XI.

XII.

XIII.

XIV.

XV.

XVI.

XVII.

XVIII.

XIX.

XX.

XXI.

XXII.

XXIII.

XXIV.

XXV.

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FIRST BE, THEN TEACH.

IN A ROMAN-CATHOLIC CHAPEL.

THE ONLY STRENGTH.

FACES AND PLACES.

SUMMER-RESURRECTION.

THE YEAR'S FIRST SWALLOW.

THE BREATH OF WHIN.

WEALTH OF THOUGHT.

MEN'S POSITIONS.

MODERN PROGRESS.

THE THOUGHT-SPHERE.

SLEEP AND DEATH.

ALL SEASONS BLESSED.

THE BLUE-EYED CALF.

THE RIVER IN STORM.

THE RIVER IN CALM.

CONSCIOUS-WRONG.

THE RAIN FALLS EQUALLY.

THE GORSY GLEN.

I KNOW THE FACE.

NATURE'S HARMONIES.

THE LIGHT WITHIN THE DARK.

BEAUTY AND RECTITUDE.

THE BUNCH OF LARKS.

NAMES OF FLOWERS.

ETERNITY FOR ALL.

THE DRIED-UP FOUNTAIN.

TRUE POSSESSION.

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PRELUDE TO A FIRST EDITION.

TO A LIGHTHOUSE AT NIGHT,

WRITTEN ON MAY MORNING.

AFTER A THUNDERSTORM.

RELIEF IN POETRY.

THE DRUNKARD'S SONNET.

UNLOSABLE FRIENDS.

PATRIOT AND POET. 1864.

TO THE REV. HUGH STOWELL BROWN.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

“WHAT PLACE IS THIS?”

TIME STEALS AWAY.

THE GUILTY SOUL.

MAN IS A VAPOUR.

AT THE GRAVE OF MARGARET.

SELF-SUMMONING.

GO HOME, GO HOME.

YE THREE VOYCES.

THE WORLD'S FALSENESS.

TRUST, IN DESPONDENCY.

FRAGMENTS OF A MEDITATION.

WE ARE EVER GETTING.

THE LIGHT OF STARS.

LET US REJOICE THAT WE ARE POOR.

WE ARE FRUIT TREES ALL.

OUR WEALTH IS WITHIN US.

THE LONELY ISLE.

THE POET'S THIRST.

IF THOU WOULDST BE A POET.

THE COBWEB IN THE SKY.

THE BLUSTERING NIGHT.

THE BLEAK BEGINNING OF NOVEMBER.

THE NIGHT'S UNRULY.

WITHERING LILIES.

THE QUESTIONER.

TO A SPARROW IN THE CHURCH.

THE OLDEN TOWN.

FOR THE CENTENARY OF ROBERT BURNS.

THE FOX FAMINE IN AYRSHIRE.

THE DUKE OF BRUNSWICK'S DIAMONDS.

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SCOTTISH POEMS.

THE LADDIE'S LAMENTATION ON THE LOSS O' HIS WHITTLE.

THE GABERLUNZIE'S SONG.

JOHN AND TIBBIE'S DISPUTE.

SPUNK JANET'S CURE FOR LOVE.

WIDOW SALMON'S PRAYER,

MY MITHER'S GRAVE.

THE WEE HERD LOON.

THE AULD GABERLUNZIE IS DEAD AND AWA'.

AULD JOHN BROON.

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224

RELIEF IN POETRY.

Whether my sonnet be of grief or joy,
It ever is preceded by depression—
A heaviness, like guilt before confession,
Which only in revealment finds alloy.
So, when the sweets of earth begin to cloy,
And all the world seems barr'd to my progression,
I know my soul has in it a possession
Which will be out, or cease not to annoy.
And yet I know not what this is, or whence!
Cloud-like it comes, but not like cloud disperses:
It comes uncall'd, nor will be driven hence,
And, left unto itself, it runs to verses.
If in this sonnet I have found relief,
Then has it done good work, though poor and brief.