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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Fragment.
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 | The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd |  |
Fragment.
Lord Huntly's sheets were like the milk,
His couch was down, his curtains silk;
Wrought on his gilded canopy
Were wolf, and hound, and fleur-de-lis;
By him the loveliest lady lay
E'er hunted deer on bank of Spey—
Nor bed of down, nor lady kind,
Brought peace or bliss to Huntly's mind:
His couch was down, his curtains silk;
Wrought on his gilded canopy
Were wolf, and hound, and fleur-de-lis;
By him the loveliest lady lay
E'er hunted deer on bank of Spey—
Nor bed of down, nor lady kind,
Brought peace or bliss to Huntly's mind:
Unearthly moans his ears assail;
He heard a suffering infant wail:—
The watch-dog howling to the gale,
The thunder's burst, the rattling hail,
The river roaring down the dale,
All nature seemed at enmity.
He heard a suffering infant wail:—
The watch-dog howling to the gale,
The thunder's burst, the rattling hail,
The river roaring down the dale,
All nature seemed at enmity.
Why foamed that flood from shore to shore?
Why did the volleying thunder roar?
Fierce lightnings rend the rocking tower,
And crested clouds incumbent lower
In dark and dread condensity?
Ah, Heaven!—that lady by his side—
That lady was not Huntly's bride!
Why did the volleying thunder roar?
Fierce lightnings rend the rocking tower,
And crested clouds incumbent lower
In dark and dread condensity?
Ah, Heaven!—that lady by his side—
That lady was not Huntly's bride!
When rose the morning clear and fair,
Why did the frightened menials stare,
Each knight and squire his weapon bare,
And maidens rend their flowing hair?
What?—neither lord nor lady there!
Why did the frightened menials stare,
Each knight and squire his weapon bare,
And maidens rend their flowing hair?
What?—neither lord nor lady there!
Why o'er yon thicket's dusty ring,
Where sullen sloes and brambles cling,
Does the dark raven veering hing,
And mountain eagle flap her wing?
Ah, horror to the searching eye!
What are those mangled fragments by,
All scattered, rent, and red that lie?
Where sullen sloes and brambles cling,
Does the dark raven veering hing,
And mountain eagle flap her wing?
Ah, horror to the searching eye!
What are those mangled fragments by,
All scattered, rent, and red that lie?
373
Are these the limbs of prowling thief,
Of reaver stern, or robber thief?
No, all that now remains they see
Of Huntly, flower of chivalry!
For, sooth, the beauty by his side
No lady was, nor Huntly's bride.
[OMITTED]
Of reaver stern, or robber thief?
No, all that now remains they see
Of Huntly, flower of chivalry!
For, sooth, the beauty by his side
No lady was, nor Huntly's bride.
| The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd | |