Lays and Legends of Ancient Greece, with Other Poems By John Stuart Blackie |
 |
|
|
| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
|
|
THE LORDS OF THE GLEN. |
|
|
|
|
|
 | Lays and Legends of Ancient Greece, with Other Poems |  |
THE LORDS OF THE GLEN.
I
O fair is the land, my own mountain land,Fit nurse for the brave and the free,
Where the fresh breezes blow o'er the heath's purple glow,
And the clear torrent gushes with glee!
But woe's me, woe! what dole and sorrow
From this lovely land I borrow,
When I roam, where the stump of a stricken ash tree
Shows the spot, where the home of the cottar should be,
218
O'er the tumbled heaps of old grey stones,
Where once a fire blazed free.
For a blight has come down on the land of the mountain,
The storm-nurtured pine, and the clear-gushing fountain,
And the chieftains are gone, the kind lords of the glen,
In the land that once swarmed with the brave Highlandmen!
II
O fair is the land my own mountain land,Fit nurse for the brave and the free,
Where the strong waterfall scoops the grey granite wall,
'Neath the roots of the old pine tree!
But woe's me, woe! what dole and sorrow
From this lovely land I borrow,
When the long and houseless glen I see,
Where only the deer to range is free,
And I think on the pride of the dwindled clan,
219
Far-tost on the billowy sea.
For a blight has come down on the land of the mountain,
The storm-nurtured pine, and the clear-gushing fountain,
And the stalkers of deer keep their scouts in the glen,
That once swarmed with the high-hearted brave Highlandmen!
III
O fair is the land, my own mountain land,Fit nurse for the brave and the free,
Where the young river leaps down the sheer ledge, and sweeps
With a full-flooded force to the sea!
But woe is me! what dole and sorrow
From this lovely land I borrow,
When I think on the men that should father the clan,
But who bartered the rights of the brave Highlandman
220
The stag that roams free o'er the tenantless hill:
What care they for the brave Highlandman?
For a blight has come down on the land of the mountain,
The storm-nurtured pine, and the clear-gushing fountain,
And vendors of game are the lords of the glen,
Who rule o'er the fair mountain land without men!
| Lays and Legends of Ancient Greece, with Other Poems | |