The Poetical Works of Ebenezer Elliott Edited by his Son Edwin Elliott ... A New and Revised Edition: Two Volumes |
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| II. |
 | The Poetical Works of Ebenezer Elliott |  |
80
BURNS.
That heaven's beloved die early,
Prophetic Pity mourns;
But old as Truth, although in youth,
Died giant-hearted Burns.
Prophetic Pity mourns;
But old as Truth, although in youth,
Died giant-hearted Burns.
O that I were the daisy
That sank beneath his plough,
Or, “neighbour meet,” that “skylark sweet!”
Say, are they nothing now?
That sank beneath his plough,
Or, “neighbour meet,” that “skylark sweet!”
Say, are they nothing now?
That mouse, “our fellow mortal,”
Lives deep in Nature's heart;
Like earth and sky, it cannot die
Till earth and sky depart.
Lives deep in Nature's heart;
Like earth and sky, it cannot die
Till earth and sky depart.
Thy Burns, child-honour'd Scotland!
Is many minds in one;
With thought on thought, the name is fraught
Of glory's peasant son.
Is many minds in one;
With thought on thought, the name is fraught
Of glory's peasant son.
Thy Chaucer is thy Milton,
And might have been thy Tell;
As Hampden fought, thy Sidney wrote
And would have fought as well.
And might have been thy Tell;
As Hampden fought, thy Sidney wrote
And would have fought as well.
81
Be proud, man-childed Scotland!
Of earth's unpolish'd gem;
And “Bonny Doon,” and “heaven aboon,”
For Burns hath hallow'd them.
Of earth's unpolish'd gem;
And “Bonny Doon,” and “heaven aboon,”
For Burns hath hallow'd them.
Be proud, though sin dishonour'd,
And grief baptized thy child;
As rivers run, in shade and sun,
He ran his courses wild.
And grief baptized thy child;
As rivers run, in shade and sun,
He ran his courses wild.
Grieve not, though savage forests
Look'd grimly on the wave,
Where dim-eyed flowers and shaded bowers
Seem'd living in the grave.
Look'd grimly on the wave,
Where dim-eyed flowers and shaded bowers
Seem'd living in the grave.
Grieve not, though, by the torrent,
Its headlong course was riven,
When o'er it came, in clouds and flame,
Niagara from heaven!
Its headlong course was riven,
When o'er it came, in clouds and flame,
Niagara from heaven!
For sometimes gently flowing,
And sometimes chafed to foam,
O'er slack and deep, by wood and steep,
He sought his heavenly home.
And sometimes chafed to foam,
O'er slack and deep, by wood and steep,
He sought his heavenly home.
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