Metrical Effusions or Verses on Various Occasions [by Bernard Barton] |
 |
THE THISTLE,
ADDRESS'D TO THE AUTHOUR OF CALEDONIE,
By a Scotch Lady.
|
 | Metrical Effusions |  |
222
THE THISTLE, ADDRESS'D TO THE AUTHOUR OF CALEDONIE, By a Scotch Lady.
The lily of France in your song is pourtray'd,
Nor forgotten the sweet English rose;
Let the shamrock of Erin expand its green leaf,
While the thistle undauntedly grows.
Nor forgotten the sweet English rose;
Let the shamrock of Erin expand its green leaf,
While the thistle undauntedly grows.
The thistle of Scotland! her boast and her pride,
Who e'er tried to pluck it must know,
Like her brave hardy sons it resists the fell gripe,
And avenges itself on the foe.
Who e'er tried to pluck it must know,
Like her brave hardy sons it resists the fell gripe,
And avenges itself on the foe.
223
Should the merciless spoiler accomplish his aim,
Full soon would his triumph be o'er;
For its seedlings in haughty defiance should rise,
And brave the attack as before.
Full soon would his triumph be o'er;
For its seedlings in haughty defiance should rise,
And brave the attack as before.
Though beauty and sweetness distinguish the rose,
To the robber how easy a prey!
The ruthless invader derides all its thorns,
And bears its gay blossoms away.
To the robber how easy a prey!
The ruthless invader derides all its thorns,
And bears its gay blossoms away.
While arm'd at all points with its prickles around,
The thistle asserts its proud reign;
It heeds not the soil, or the climate, but decks
The bleak mountain and fertiliz'd plain.
The thistle asserts its proud reign;
It heeds not the soil, or the climate, but decks
The bleak mountain and fertiliz'd plain.
And why should it not? when by nature design'd
With the bright English rose to compare;
What it has not in beauty it makes up in strength;
May they mingle in luve ever mair.
With the bright English rose to compare;
What it has not in beauty it makes up in strength;
May they mingle in luve ever mair.
| Metrical Effusions | |