Miscellanies in prose and verse on several occasions, by Claudero [i.e. James Wilson], son of Nimrod the Mighty Hunter. The Fourth Edition with large Additions |
 |
An Elegy on Archibald, Duke of Argyll,
who died at London, 15th of April, 1761.
|
 |
|
 | Miscellanies in prose and verse |  |
26
An Elegy on Archibald, Duke of Argyll, who died at London, 15th of April, 1761.
A solemn dirge, ye bag-pipes, blow,Let hills and dales resound the woe:
Ye rocks, who guard the western shore,
Your potent Duke is now no more;
Snatch'd off by Death, when ripe in years,
His mem'ry claims his country's tears:
A statesman great, and good likewise,
Among th'unthinking dead now lies.
No more he'll scheme his country's well;
No more at court our 'plaints he'll tell;
No more he'll spend the silent night:
To meditate his country's right:
No more for Scotsmen he'll provide;
Nor by sage counsel Britain guide;
His politics, now at an end,
No more his country will defend.
Let Argathelian nymphs lament,
And warlike swains his death relent.
Let all the num'rous martial clan
Loudly mourn the god-like man.
Kintire, resound the doleful tale,
And winds, blow murm'ring thro' the vale;
Let rivers, hills, and spacious plains,
Assist to echo dreary strains.
Ye muses nine, assist the theme,
And poets sing this prince's fame;
Free masons too, of Britain's north,
Record Duke Arch'bald's taste and worth:
The Gothic structure, lately spir'd,
Most justly is by all admir'd:
His palace shines in Scotia's west,
And bears of masonry the rest.
When great and good men drop and die,
Then sorrow, with a mournful eye,
In vain laments the nat'ral state,
Of patriot virtue and its date.
27
With virtue and with martial fire:
May prowess guide his heart and sword,
And laurels wreathe the Campbells lord.
| Miscellanies in prose and verse | |