The poems and songs of William Hamilton of Bangour collated with the ms. volume of his poems, and containing several pieces hitherto unpublished; with illustrative notes, and an account of the life of the author. By James Paterson |
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ON THE DEATH OF MR BASIL HAMILTON. |
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 | The poems and songs of William Hamilton of Bangour |  |
ON THE DEATH OF MR BASIL HAMILTON.
This verse, O gentle Hamilton! be thine,(Each softer grace bedew thy darling shrine);
Nature to thee did her best gifts impart,
The mildest manners and the warmest heart;
Honour erected in thy breast its throne,
And kind Humanity was all thy own.
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You rose to save, and left that ease you loved;
For this she grieves thy early fate to see;
And 'midst her sufferings finds a tear for thee.
But thou perhaps hast well escaped her doom,
Thy eyes are closed, nor sees her ills to come;
Abandon'd o'er, to shameless men a prey,
And slow, deceiving friends, far worse than they;
The kindred triumph of thy noble blood,
Thy name enroll'd amidst the few that stood.
Fair, beaming clear, through life, the patriot flame,
And deaf to honours that begun in shame;
Each duty paid that friendship could demand;
Each nobler deed to save a destin'd land.
An age, corrupt amidst the civil storm,
Would suffer struggling Virtue to perform;
To fix his country, ever free, he tried—
Found the brave labour vain, resigned, and died.
| The poems and songs of William Hamilton of Bangour | |