Poems by James Hyslop ... With a Sketch of his Life, and Notes on his Poems, By the Rev. Peter Mearns |
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| XXVIII. | XXVIII.
Address to the Crawick.
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 | Poems by James Hyslop |  |
153
XXVIII.
Address to the Crawick.
Thy landscape, Crawick, from my heart
Shall never fade away;
By beauty's pencil it was drawn,
In boyhood's early day:
Shall never fade away;
By beauty's pencil it was drawn,
In boyhood's early day:
Sweet spring shed o'er the scenery green
Its sunshine and its light;
Love lent his colouring to the scene,
And made it far more bright.
Its sunshine and its light;
Love lent his colouring to the scene,
And made it far more bright.
Stream of green hills and darkening woods,
And crags of hoary gray;
Where bound thy whinstone channeled floods
In majesty away.
And crags of hoary gray;
Where bound thy whinstone channeled floods
In majesty away.
Thus proudly hast thou held thy path
Since first thy course began,
Unheeding of the life or death
Of frail and fading man.
Since first thy course began,
Unheeding of the life or death
Of frail and fading man.
Thou canst look back, and call to mind
The noon-day of the world,
When Cæsar's legions on thy hills
The Roman flag unfurled;
The noon-day of the world,
When Cæsar's legions on thy hills
The Roman flag unfurled;
When mustering up thy Celtic ranks
The gathering bugle blew,
As o'er thy green and dewy banks
Rome's conquering eagle flew!
The gathering bugle blew,
As o'er thy green and dewy banks
Rome's conquering eagle flew!
Where still thy Roman camps are seen
In mouldering ruins gray,
Where flocks now crop the daisies green,
And peaceful shepherds stray,
In mouldering ruins gray,
Where flocks now crop the daisies green,
And peaceful shepherds stray,
Thy tartaned warriors, from the heath,
In bonnet and in plume,
Have closed amid the ranks of death
With proud imperial Rome!
In bonnet and in plume,
Have closed amid the ranks of death
With proud imperial Rome!
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Haply, where darkening firs now spread
Their shadows o'er thy waters,
Among thy primrose bowers in spring
Where walk thy beauteous daughters,
Their shadows o'er thy waters,
Among thy primrose bowers in spring
Where walk thy beauteous daughters,
Some lady fair, of Celtic birth,
Her dark eyes dim with weeping,
Has strewed with funeral flowers the earth
O'er her loved warrior sleeping!
Her dark eyes dim with weeping,
Has strewed with funeral flowers the earth
O'er her loved warrior sleeping!
Stream of my childhood!—might I now
Among thy woodlands wander,
Light-hearted, as in life's young years,
On themes like these to ponder;
Among thy woodlands wander,
Light-hearted, as in life's young years,
On themes like these to ponder;
To linger in thy cooling shades
The long, long summer day,
When scarcely through the thick green leaves
Could pierce the sunny ray;
The long, long summer day,
When scarcely through the thick green leaves
Could pierce the sunny ray;
With the laburnum's flowering gold
To have my covert shaded;
My brows with rustling woodbine cold,
In dark green ringlets, braided;
To have my covert shaded;
My brows with rustling woodbine cold,
In dark green ringlets, braided;
To view life sleeping, far away,
In sunshine, love, and lightness,
And deem it all a scene, like this,
Of gladsomeness and brightness,—
In sunshine, love, and lightness,
And deem it all a scene, like this,
Of gladsomeness and brightness,—
It would be sweet!—But these are dreams
Belong alone to childhood;
Those forms of love soon glide away
That meet us in the wild-wood:—
Belong alone to childhood;
Those forms of love soon glide away
That meet us in the wild-wood:—
Where is that form of loveliness
That crossed my path at even,
Breathing o'er life's dark wilderness
The happiness of Heaven?
That crossed my path at even,
Breathing o'er life's dark wilderness
The happiness of Heaven?
But though love's brightest early blooms
Among life's storms may perish,
The form of her it loved in youth
The heart will ever cherish:—
Among life's storms may perish,
The form of her it loved in youth
The heart will ever cherish:—
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Though 'tis forgotten in the hours
Of noisy mirth and gladness,
It still returns, with all its powers,
In solitude and sadness!
Of noisy mirth and gladness,
It still returns, with all its powers,
In solitude and sadness!
The silence of the long, dark night,—
The wood, the shore, the sea,—
Annie! my early, only love!
Still brings thee back to me.
The wood, the shore, the sea,—
Annie! my early, only love!
Still brings thee back to me.
When back, through clouds of darkest woe,
I view life's early day,
I see thee in a little world
Of sunshine, far away.
I view life's early day,
I see thee in a little world
Of sunshine, far away.
Blooming in loveliness, as when
You met me in the grove,
With loose locks floating in the sun,
And dark eyes beaming love!—
You met me in the grove,
With loose locks floating in the sun,
And dark eyes beaming love!—
I see thee in the bower of spring,
Beside the moorland fountains;
I see thee 'mong the heather bells,
On Spango's dewy mountains;
Beside the moorland fountains;
I see thee 'mong the heather bells,
On Spango's dewy mountains;
I see thee in the mirthful hall,
With songs and music ringing;
I see thee in the church-yard green,
Where holy psalms are singing!
With songs and music ringing;
I see thee in the church-yard green,
Where holy psalms are singing!
It was a vision—and 'tis fled,
On viewless wings, away,
To mingle with the morning clouds
In brightness and decay!
On viewless wings, away,
To mingle with the morning clouds
In brightness and decay!
Stream of the mountains!—many a flower
Of love thy banks have shaded,
Flourishing in the morning shower,
And ere the noon-day faded!
Of love thy banks have shaded,
Flourishing in the morning shower,
And ere the noon-day faded!
O many a fond heart has been blest
Among thy green woods deep!
But Time's dark tide has o'er them past
With overwhelming sweep:
Among thy green woods deep!
But Time's dark tide has o'er them past
With overwhelming sweep:
156
Onward his surging waters roll,
Resistlessly and free,
Spreading o'er love's bright flowery vale
A misty, starless sea.
Resistlessly and free,
Spreading o'er love's bright flowery vale
A misty, starless sea.
My warmest love of youth now fades
A way like morning dreams!
But other lovers, other maids,
Shall wander by thy streams;
A way like morning dreams!
But other lovers, other maids,
Shall wander by thy streams;
New springs shall renovate thy bowers,
New summers gild thy skies;
To bless warm youth's enraptured hours
New forms of love arise;
New summers gild thy skies;
To bless warm youth's enraptured hours
New forms of love arise;
But thou, unchanged, shalt pour thy floods
O'er crags and cliffs sublime,
Till angels ring, among the clouds,
The funeral bells of Time!
O'er crags and cliffs sublime,
Till angels ring, among the clouds,
The funeral bells of Time!
| Poems by James Hyslop | |