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Lyrical Poems

By John Stuart Blackie

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107

THE SCOTSMAN'S VOCATION.

Thou sturdy Scottish man,
Still be first in labour's van!
'Tis the mission of the Highest, given visibly to Thee!
With the hammer and the spade
Ply thine earth-subduing trade,
And thou shalt be a prince at home, and a king beyond the sea!
Where the ragged thistle grows,
There dig, and plant the rose,
And make a blooming garden on the bare hill side!
Beneath the leafy shade
Which thine own hands have made,
There claim thy sweatful honours, there nurse thy sturdy pride!

108

By Thee the Titan steam
Hove the wonder-working beam,
Whose sway is like a thousand horses prancing in their pride!
The smoking ships from Thee
Went forth that flap the sea,
Where the halls of merchant princes fringe the banks of busy Clyde.
Thou sturdy Scottish man,
Since the Earth to wheel began,
There was heavy work to do by land, and heavy work by sea;
Still be faithful to thy plan,
And the God, who works by man,
Hath many a task of world-transforming toil in store for Thee!