The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd Centenary Edition. With a Memoir of the Author, by the Rev. Thomas Thomson ... Poems and Life. With Many Illustrative Engravings [by James Hogg] |
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 | The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd |  |
“Thou art as stout and stanch a knight
As ever braved our northern might;
But know thou this (and when thou dost,
Thou know'st it to thy nation's cost),
In youth, before this beard was brown,
Or only waved a golden down,
I, from a child to battle bred,
Was forth to single combat led;
Before my eighteenth year, I say
Had clothed this chin, which now is gray,
Within the lists I had to fight
For life, before my father's sight.
I won, and of applause was vain.
I've fought a thousand times since then;
In southern climes have laurels won
Beyond the seasons and the sun;
I've journey'd all the world around,
Wherever fame was to be found;
Have fought with Frank and Turcoman,
With prince, with vizier, and with khan;
And though their painim creed I spurn'd,
This sword was ne'er in combat turn'd.
As ever braved our northern might;
But know thou this (and when thou dost,
Thou know'st it to thy nation's cost),
In youth, before this beard was brown,
Or only waved a golden down,
I, from a child to battle bred,
Was forth to single combat led;
Before my eighteenth year, I say
Had clothed this chin, which now is gray,
Within the lists I had to fight
For life, before my father's sight.
I won, and of applause was vain.
I've fought a thousand times since then;
In southern climes have laurels won
Beyond the seasons and the sun;
I've journey'd all the world around,
Wherever fame was to be found;
Have fought with Frank and Turcoman,
With prince, with vizier, and with khan;
And though their painim creed I spurn'd,
This sword was ne'er in combat turn'd.
| The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd | |