Legends of the isles and Highland Gatherings By Charles Mackay. Second Edition |
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THE PLANTING OF THE ACORNS.
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 | Legends of the isles and Highland Gatherings |  |
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THE PLANTING OF THE ACORNS.
DARNAWAY FOREST.
I
Upon this bare unshelter'd groundThe living germs we strew,
And pray for kindly summer suns,
And fertilizing dew.
Receive the Acorns, mother Earth,
And feed them year by year,
Till proud and high, towards the sky
Their lordly boughs they rear.
Winds, blow gently o'er them!
Rain, fall softly down!
Earth, enwrap them warmly
In thy bosom brown!
II
Beneath the shadow of their leavesThe wanton birds shall play,
And lovers in the summer eves
Shall sigh their hearts away;
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In solitary nooks,
To read in one another's eyes
The lore not learn'd in books.
Winds, blow gently o'er them!
Stars, look kindly through!
Fortune, smile upon them,
If their love be true!
III
And here in rural holidays,The village girls shall sing
The simple rhymes of olden times,
While dancing in a ring.
Old men, upon the sward beneath,
Shall loiter in the sun,
With pipe and glass, and drowsy talk
Of all the deeds they've done.
Winds, blow gently o'er them!
Sunshine, gild their way!
Time, lay light thy fingers
On their heads of gray!
IV
And when a hundred years have pass'd,The oaks, grown old and hoar,
Shall serve to form some mighty fleet,
To guard our native shore.
117
Our flag shall be unfurl'd
To sound the fame of Britain's name
In thunder o'er the world.
Winds, blow gaily o'er them!
Calm thy rage, O sea!
Bear thy burden proudly
On to Victory!
| Legends of the isles and Highland Gatherings | |