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 |  |
At length their motions grew more slow,
Their swords fell lighter every blow;
And all perceiv'd they near'd the last,
And the bitterness of death was past:
On swords that bent and stream'd with blood,
They lean'd, and stagger'd as they stood;
Yet grimly levell'd eye to eye,
And not one inch would either fly.
The conflict's o'er—wild tremor reigns,
And stillness for a space remains.
Their swords fell lighter every blow;
And all perceiv'd they near'd the last,
And the bitterness of death was past:
On swords that bent and stream'd with blood,
They lean'd, and stagger'd as they stood;
Yet grimly levell'd eye to eye,
And not one inch would either fly.
The conflict's o'er—wild tremor reigns,
And stillness for a space remains.
| The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd | |