The Comrades Poems Old & New: By William Canton |
 |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
|
|
| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
|
| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
|
|
| I. |
| II. |
|
| I. |
| II. |
Pine and Palm |
|
 | The Comrades |  |
178
Pine and Palm
A lonely tree, the rowan grew
Among the boulders; long and lone,
The wild moor heaved beneath the blue
In heathery swells of turf and stone.
Among the boulders; long and lone,
The wild moor heaved beneath the blue
In heathery swells of turf and stone.
They'd wandered east, they'd wandered west,
With dance and music, song and mirth,
That sunburned group who paused to rest
On that one spot of shadowy earth.
With dance and music, song and mirth,
That sunburned group who paused to rest
On that one spot of shadowy earth.
With heat and travel overcome,
The bandsman slumbered. On the grass
Lay leathern pipes and cymballed drum,
And bright peaked hat with bells of brass.
The bandsman slumbered. On the grass
Lay leathern pipes and cymballed drum,
And bright peaked hat with bells of brass.
179
With low soft laughs and whispered fun,
Blithe eyes and lips of loving red,
Two girls sat stringing in the sun
The rowan-berries on a thread.
Blithe eyes and lips of loving red,
Two girls sat stringing in the sun
The rowan-berries on a thread.
Against a boulder mossy-grown
I saw the singing-woman lean
Her dark proud head. Upon the stone
She had placed her gilded tambourine.
I saw the singing-woman lean
Her dark proud head. Upon the stone
She had placed her gilded tambourine.
Though not asleep, she did but seem
Half conscious, for the hot sun kissed
Her cheek, and wrapped her heart in dream,
Like some glad garden wrapped in mist.
Half conscious, for the hot sun kissed
Her cheek, and wrapped her heart in dream,
Like some glad garden wrapped in mist.
Into the tambourine I dropped
My modest tribute unto art;
The children, threading berries, stopped;
The woman wakened with a start.
My modest tribute unto art;
The children, threading berries, stopped;
The woman wakened with a start.
She rose and thanked me, bright and free,
Then added: “God is good to-day!
One hour I am in Napoli—
And this is Scotland—far away!”
Then added: “God is good to-day!
One hour I am in Napoli—
And this is Scotland—far away!”
180
And I remembered, as I turned,
How, lone in Norland snows, the pine
Dreamed of that lonely palm which yearned
On burning crags beneath the line.
How, lone in Norland snows, the pine
Dreamed of that lonely palm which yearned
On burning crags beneath the line.
| The Comrades | |