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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On Carmel's Brow.
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 | The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd |  |
On Carmel's Brow.
On Carmel's brow the wreathy vine
Had all it honours shed;
And, o'er the vales of Palestine,
A sickly paleness spread;
When the old seer, by vision led
And energy sublime,
Into that shadowy region sped,
To muse on distant time.
Had all it honours shed;
And, o'er the vales of Palestine,
A sickly paleness spread;
When the old seer, by vision led
And energy sublime,
Into that shadowy region sped,
To muse on distant time.
He saw the valleys far and wide,
But sight of joy was none;
He looked o'er many a mountain's side,
But silence reigned alone;
Save that a boding voice sung on
By wave and waterfall,
As still, in harsh and heavy tone,
Deep unto deep did call.
But sight of joy was none;
He looked o'er many a mountain's side,
But silence reigned alone;
Save that a boding voice sung on
By wave and waterfall,
As still, in harsh and heavy tone,
Deep unto deep did call.
On Kison's strand, and Ephratah,
The hamlets thick did lie;
No wayfarer between he saw,
No Asherite passed by:
No maiden at her task did ply,
Nor sportive child was seen;
The lonely dog barked wearily
Where dwellers once had been.
The hamlets thick did lie;
No wayfarer between he saw,
No Asherite passed by:
No maiden at her task did ply,
Nor sportive child was seen;
The lonely dog barked wearily
Where dwellers once had been.
Oh! beauteous were the palaces
On Jordan wont to be;
And still they glimmered to the breeze,
Like stars beneath the sea—
But vultures held their jubilee
Where harp and cymbal rung;
And there, as if in mockery,
The baleful satyr sung.
On Jordan wont to be;
And still they glimmered to the breeze,
Like stars beneath the sea—
But vultures held their jubilee
Where harp and cymbal rung;
And there, as if in mockery,
The baleful satyr sung.
But, oh! that prophet's visioned eye,
On Carmel that reclined,
It looked not on the times gone by,
But those that were behind;
His gray hair streamed upon the wind—
His hands were raised on high—
As, mirrored on his mystic mind,
Arose futurity.
On Carmel that reclined,
It looked not on the times gone by,
But those that were behind;
His gray hair streamed upon the wind—
His hands were raised on high—
As, mirrored on his mystic mind,
Arose futurity.
He saw the feast in Bozrah spread,
Prepared in ancient day;
Eastward, away the eagle sped,
And all the birds of prey.
“Who's this,” he cried, “comes by the way
Of Edom, all divine,
Travelling in splendour, whose array
Is red, but not with wine?
Prepared in ancient day;
Eastward, away the eagle sped,
And all the birds of prey.
“Who's this,” he cried, “comes by the way
Of Edom, all divine,
Travelling in splendour, whose array
Is red, but not with wine?
“Blest be the herald of our King,
That comes to set us free!
The dwellers of the rock shall sing,
And utter praise to thee!
Tabor and Hermon yet shall see
Their glories glow again,
And blossoms spring on field and tree,
That ever shall remain.
That comes to set us free!
The dwellers of the rock shall sing,
And utter praise to thee!
Tabor and Hermon yet shall see
Their glories glow again,
And blossoms spring on field and tree,
That ever shall remain.
“The happy child, in dragon's way,
Shall frolic with delight;
The lamb shall round the leopard play,
And all in love unite.
The dove on Zion's hill shall light,
That all the world must see;
Hail to the Journeyer in his might,
That comes to set us free!”
Shall frolic with delight;
The lamb shall round the leopard play,
And all in love unite.
The dove on Zion's hill shall light,
That all the world must see;
Hail to the Journeyer in his might,
That comes to set us free!”
| The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd | |