The complete poetical works of Thomas Campbell Oxford edition: Edited, with notes by J. Logie Robertson |
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 | The complete poetical works of Thomas Campbell |  |
277
LINES
ON RECEIVING A SEAL WITH THE CAMPBELL CREST, FROM K.M—, BEFORE HER MARRIAGE
This wax returns not back more fair
The impression of the gift you send,
Than, stamped upon my thoughts, I bear
The image of your worth, my friend!
The impression of the gift you send,
Than, stamped upon my thoughts, I bear
The image of your worth, my friend!
We are not friends of yesterday;
But poet's fancies are a little
Disposed to heat and cool (they say),
By turns impressible and brittle.
But poet's fancies are a little
Disposed to heat and cool (they say),
By turns impressible and brittle.
Well! should its frailty e'er condemn
My heart to prize or please you less,
Your type is still the sealing gem,
And mine the waxen brittleness.
My heart to prize or please you less,
Your type is still the sealing gem,
And mine the waxen brittleness.
What transcripts of my weal and woe
This little signet yet may lock,—
What utterances to friend or foe,
In reason's calm or passion's shock!
This little signet yet may lock,—
What utterances to friend or foe,
In reason's calm or passion's shock!
What scenes of life's yet curtained page
May own its confidential die,
Whose stamp awaits the unwritten page
And feelings of futurity!
May own its confidential die,
Whose stamp awaits the unwritten page
And feelings of futurity!
Yet, wheresoe'er my pen I lift
To date the epistolary sheet,
The blest occasion of the gift
Shall make its recollection sweet,—
To date the epistolary sheet,
The blest occasion of the gift
Shall make its recollection sweet,—
278
Sent when the star that rules your fates
Hath reached its influence most benign,
When every heart congratulates,
And none more cordially than mine.
Hath reached its influence most benign,
When every heart congratulates,
And none more cordially than mine.
So speed my song—marked with the crest
That erst the adventurous Norman wore
Who won the Lady of the West,
The daughter of Macaillain Mor.
That erst the adventurous Norman wore
Who won the Lady of the West,
The daughter of Macaillain Mor.
Crest of my sires! whose blood it sealed
With glory in the strife of swords,
Ne'er may the scroll that bears it yield
Degenerate thoughts or faithless words!
With glory in the strife of swords,
Ne'er may the scroll that bears it yield
Degenerate thoughts or faithless words!
Yet little might I prize the stone
If it but typed the feudal tree
From whence, a scattered leaf, I'm blown
In Fortune's mutability.
If it but typed the feudal tree
From whence, a scattered leaf, I'm blown
In Fortune's mutability.
No!—but it tells me of a heart
Allied by friendship's living tie;
A prize beyond the herald's art—
Our soul-sprung consanguinity!
Allied by friendship's living tie;
A prize beyond the herald's art—
Our soul-sprung consanguinity!
Katherine! to many an hour of mine
Light wings and sunshine you have lent;
And so adieu, and still be thine
The all-in-all of life—Content!
Light wings and sunshine you have lent;
And so adieu, and still be thine
The all-in-all of life—Content!
| The complete poetical works of Thomas Campbell | |