Lays of the Highlands and Islands By John Stuart Blackie |
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TO
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
THE BARONESS BURDETT COUTTS. |
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 | Lays of the Highlands and Islands |  |
TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE BARONESS BURDETT COUTTS.
High-fortuned lady, bountiful and kind,Whom to behold is to be touched with good,
Whom in her proud heart England holds enshrined,
Pure type of noblest Christian womanhood!
As a poor child from grassy down may cull
A wilding bloom on which a thronèd queen
Shall smile, and justly deem more beautiful
Than all the stars that gem the courtly scene;
So thou in thy great march of gracious deeds,
And loving triumphs which subdue all foes,
Slight not the poet; though for human needs
His empty hand no healing bounty shows,
His soulful songs do scatter fruitful seeds
On breezy wing, whence godlike virtue grows.
Oban, July 8, 1872.
| Lays of the Highlands and Islands | |