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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To Mary at Parting.
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 | The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd |  |
To Mary at Parting.
Alas, alas! the time draws nigh,
When low that beauteous form shall lie;
That eye that beams with love and duty,
Must quickly lose its beaming beauty;
That heart, that beats so brisk and gaily,
Must turn a clod in yonder valley.
No more the sun shall dawn on thee,
But long thy starless night shall be;
Chill, chill, and damp thy lonely room,
And hemlock o'er thy bosom bloom.
Oh then, be wise—the time draws nigh
When low that beauteous form shall lie!
When low that beauteous form shall lie;
That eye that beams with love and duty,
Must quickly lose its beaming beauty;
That heart, that beats so brisk and gaily,
Must turn a clod in yonder valley.
No more the sun shall dawn on thee,
But long thy starless night shall be;
Chill, chill, and damp thy lonely room,
And hemlock o'er thy bosom bloom.
Oh then, be wise—the time draws nigh
When low that beauteous form shall lie!
But oh, within that lovely frame,
There dwells a spark of heavenly flame—
A spark that shall for ever burn,
Smile over nature's closing urn,
And mix its beams in cloudless day,
When sun and stars have passed away!—
To nurse that spark—that ray divine,
The task, the pleasing task be thine;
Then thy delights shall never die,
Though low that beauteous form shall lie.
There dwells a spark of heavenly flame—
A spark that shall for ever burn,
Smile over nature's closing urn,
And mix its beams in cloudless day,
When sun and stars have passed away!—
To nurse that spark—that ray divine,
The task, the pleasing task be thine;
Then thy delights shall never die,
Though low that beauteous form shall lie.
| The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd | |