The Poetical Works of Hector MacNeill ... A New Edition, Corrected and Enlarged. In Two Volumes |
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THE SCOTTISH MUSE. |
The Poetical Works of Hector MacNeill | ||
THE SCOTTISH MUSE.
That old and antique song we heard last night:
Methought it did relieve my passion much;
More than light airs, and recollected terms
Of these more brisk and giddy-paced times.—
Shakespeare.
In midst o'pain my lanely pleasure!
Tutored by thee, and whispering leisure,
I quit the thrang,
And, wrapt in blessed retirement, measure
Thy varied sang!
Ah, welladay! what should I be !
Whan jeered by fools wha canna see
My inward pain,
Aneath thy sheltering wing I flee,
And mak my mane.
For hours thegither wilt thou bide,
Chanting auld tales o'martial pride,
And luve's sweet smart!
Till glowing warm thy numbers glide
Streight to the heart.
Thou wavest thy magic-working wand;
And stirring up ideas grand
That fire the brain,
Aff whirlst me swift to fairy land
'Mang Fancy's train.—
Flees trembling frae her downy nest;
Starting frae horror's dreams opprest,
I see thee come
Wi' radiance mild that cheers the breast,
And lights the gloom!
Hope, luve, and pity, in thy face,
And gliding up wi' silent pace
My plaints to hear,
Whisper'st in turn thae soothing lays
Saft in my ear.
Wan suff'rer bleached wi' care and pain!
How changed, alas! since vogie vain,
Wi' spirits light,
Ye hailed me first in untaught strain
On Strevlin's height!
Ye brattled then through wind and cauld!
Reckless, by stream, by firth and fauld
Ye held your way;
By passion ruled; by love enthralled,
Ye poured the lay.
I marked you midst the rural thrang;
Ardent and keen, the hail day lang
Wi' Nature ta'en,
Slip frae the crowd, and mix amang
Her simple train.
Your future thriftless, lost career!
And while some blamed, wi' boding fear,
The tunefu' art,
Your moral pride and truth sincere
Aye wan my heart.
To ply the fleeching, fawning trade;
Nor bend the knee, nor bow the head
To walth or power!
But backward turn, wi' scornfu' speed,
Frae flatt'ry's door.
'Mid passion's sudden, wild career;
Nor try at times to tack or veer
To int'rest's gale,
But hoist the sheet, unawed by fear,
Tho' storms prevail.
Whar will he find a shelt'ring beild?
Whan poortith's blast drifts cross the field
Wi' wintry cauld,
Whar will he wone—poor feckless chield!
Whan frail and auld!
Wander he will frae clime to clime,
Sanguine wi' hope on wing sublime
Mount heigh in air!
But than—waes me! there comes a time
O'dool and care!
O'serious thought and sad debate;
Whan blighted hope and adverse fate
Owrespread their gloom,
And mirk despair, in waefu' state,
Foresees the doom!
Wi' guardian honour by his side!
Shall fortune frown on guiltless pride,
And straits owrtake him!
—Weel! blame wha like—whate'er betide
I'se ne'er forsake him!
Ye hailed me smiling; youthfu' gay
On Aichil's whin-flowered fragrant brae
I strave to cheer ye!
Frae morn's first dawn to e'en's last ray
I ay was near ye.
To India's shore and sultry soil;
'Mid tumult, battle, care, and toil,
I following flew;
Ay smoothed the past, and wak'd the smile
To prospects new.
To Elephanta's far-famed shore
I led ye, ardent to explore,
Wi' panting heart,
Her idol monuments o'yore,
And sculptured art.
On smiling Salsett's cave-wrought coast:—
Though hope was tint—tho' a'was crossed ,
Nae dread alarms
Ye felt—fond fool!—in wonder lost
And nature's charms!
To Carib's shores returned again;
In sickness, trial, hardship, pain,
Ye ken yoursell,
Drapt frae the muse's melting strain
Peace balmy fell.
Hope lent her heaven-refreshing dew;
Fair virtue close, and closer drew
To join the lay;
While conscience bright, and brighter grew,
And cheered the way!—
(Or flushed wi' joy, or wae-forlorn)
Ye hailed the fragrant breath o'morn
Frae orange flower,
Or cassia bud, or logwood thorn,
Or Guava bower:
Inhaled the spicy gales that flew,
Rich frae Pimento's groves that grew
In deep'ning green,
Crowned wi' their flowers o'milk-white hue
In dazzling sheen!
Ye woo'd coy zephyr's transient aid
Under the Banyan's pillared shade,
On plain or hill,
Or plantain green, that rustling played
Across the rill:
Drank coolness wafted in perfume,
Fresh frae the shaddack's golden bloom,
As flutt'ring gay
Hummed saft the bird o'peerless plume,
Frae spray to spray!
The shelving palm-girt beach ye prest,
And ee'd, entranced, the purpling west
Bepictured o'er,
As ocean murm'ring gently kissed
The whitening shore:
Ye held your solemn musing way,
Whar through the gloom in myriad ray
The fire-flies gleam;
And 'thwart the grove, in harmless play,
The light'nings stream!
Roamed late the Guinea-verdured glade ,
Where towered the giant Ceiba's shade;
And, loftier still,
The Cabbage rears its regal head
Owre palm-crowned hill.
The muse aye caught your list'ning ear;
'Mid tempest's rage and thunder's rair
Aye cheering sang:—
Touched by her hand (unchilled by fear)
The Harp-strings rang .
Whar youth and hope lang tint their time,
Ance mair to the Strevlin's height sublime
We winged our way;
Ance mair attuned the rural rhime
On Aichil brae.
For passion spake while fancy cheered;
A while wi' flaunting airs ye flared
And thought to shine;
But Nature—judging nature sneered,
And ca'd it—fine!
Pensive ye mused; I marked, and smiled;
Daund'ring depressed 'mang knows flowered wild,
My aten reed
Ye faund ae bonny morning mild
'Tween Ayr and Tweed.
Whar unbusked nature blooms sae fair!
And mony a wild note saft and clear
Sings sweet by turns,
Tuned by my winsome Allan's ear
And fav'rite Burns.
Doubtfu' ye sighed, and hang your head;
Fearfu' ye sang till some agreed
The notes war true;
Whan grown mair bauld, ye gae a screed
That pleased nae few .
By Clyde's clear stream and beechen bowers ;
Heartsome and healthfu' flew the hours
In simple sang,
While Lossit's braes and Eden's towers
The notes prolang!
For health has flown wi' spirits gay;
Youth, too, has fled! and cauld decay
Comes creeping on:
October's sun cheers na like May
That brightly shone!
Has joys, gin folk calm joys wad seek;
Friendship and Worth then social cleek
And twine thegither,
And gree and crack by ingle cheek
Just like twin-brither.
That please a while, but fash at last)
Serious, our ee we backward cast
On bygane frays,
And, marvelling, mourn the thriftless waste
O'former days!
And moral reas'ning for our guide,
Calmly we view the restless tide
O'warldly care,
And cull, wi' academic pride,
The flow'rs o' lare.
Coy science' secret paths we trace,
And catch fair Nature's beauteous face
In varied view,
Ardent, though auld, we join the chace,
And pleased pursue.—
The seasons change, and, changing, cheer;
Journeying we jog, unawed by fear:
Hope plays her part!
Forward we look, though in the rear
Death shakes the dart.
Hope's dream's the sweetest balm o'pain:
Heaven's unseen joys may yet remain,
And yet draw near ye:
Meanwhile, ye see, I hear your mane,
And flee to cheer ye.
Frae Britain's cauld, frae misery's bed;
Owre seas tempestuous shivering sped
To Friendship's flame;
Whar kindling warm, in sun-beams clad,
She hails her Graham .
Ance mair ye'll greet fair Albion's isle!
In some calm nook life's cares beguile
Atween us twa:
Feed the faint lamp wi' friendship's oil—
Then—slip awa!
Just waved her hand, and mild withdrew!
Cheered wi' the picture (fause or true)
I checked despair,
And frae that moment made a vow
To—mourn nae mair.
The sigh will burst;—the tear will start;
Friendship-woven ties will snap and part,
Nae mair to twine!
And death, relentless, flings the dart,
And severs mine!
Year after year life's pleasures die;
To-day we smile; to-morrow sigh;—
In vain we moan!
Yet still I mourn, and, moaning, cry,
“My Currie's gone!”
That waked sae late admiring praise,
Its parting beam's reflected rays
In colours rise,
Bright as warm summer's sun displays
In evening' skies!
Their charms to sooth the Scottish Muse;
And while she sheds affection's dews
At Friendship's shrine,
A heaven-shot gleam in bright'ning hues
Through clouds will shine.
The author's complaints were such, that, unable either to read or to write above a few minutes without distress, his only amusement was to compose by the help of memory alone. It may, perhaps, be worth mentioning, that Will and Jean, the Waes o'War, the Links o'Forth, and the present poem, were all composed by memory, previously to the commitment of a single line to paper.
See the author's account of the caves of Elephanta, Canary, and Ambola, published in the eighth volume of the Archæologia.
The palmeto royal, or mountain cabbage, from 150 to 200 feet in height; a tree, says Mr Edwards, which, without doubt, is among the most graceful of all the vegetable creation.
The author's first attempts in Scottish poetry were the composing of words to some of our most simple pastoral and Gaelic airs.
Alluding to the uncommon sale of ‘Will and Jean,’ which, in less than seven weeks after publication, went through five editions of 1500 copies each. Fourteen editions were thrown off before the expiration of a twelvemonth.
Lossit, in Cantyre, Argyleshire, where some of the songs, from their resemblance to the Gaelic, were particularly relished. They were afterwards set to music, and published in Edinburgh.
Lossit, in Cantyre, Argyleshire, where some of the songs, from their resemblance to the Gaelic, were particularly relished. They were afterwards set to music, and published in Edinburgh.
The Poetical Works of Hector MacNeill | ||