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Orellana and Other Poems

By J. Logie Robertson
Robertson, J. Logie (1846-1922)

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[section]
  
APOLOGY FOR POESY.
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ORELLANA
 I. 
BOOK I.
 II. 
BOOK II.
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BRIERS
 I. 
I. IN MEMORIAM.
 II. 
II. THE MASK OF MISERY.
 III. 
III. FOUND DEAD.
 IV. 
IV. THESE AND THOSE.
 V. 
V. PARTING AND MEETING.
 VI. 
VI. THE PLEADER.
 VII. 
VII. DELILAH.
 VIII. 
VIII. THE TWO SUNSETS.
 IX. 
IX. THE PROMENADE.
 X. 
X. JOAN THAMSON'S MAN.
 XI. 
XI. WITHOUT AND WITHIN.
 XII. 
XII. THE AULD HOOSE AND THE NEW.
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SYLVÆ
  
THE GENIUS OF THE GLEN.
  
THE MEET AT MIDNIGHT.
  
SIMMER LOST:
  
A GIFT FOR A BRIDE.
  
THE CAMP ON THE OCHILS.
  
ADVENTUS VERIS.
  
THE LAD OF BENARTY.
  
PINES AND BOULDER.
  
THE TWO FLOWERS.
  
IN THE KNOCK-WOOD.
  
THE LIGHT ON THE HILLSIDE.
  
HEIGH-HO! THE WIND AND THE RAIN!
  
YE FATE OF YE BOOK.
  
THE FIFTEENTH OF AUGUST.
  
WORKING AND IDLING.
  
BLOOMTIME: A SONG.
  
A DITHYRAMB.
  
COMPOSING A SONNET.
  
DAVID.
  
OUR MARY: HER FATE.
  
RETURN TO EDINBURGH AFTER THE HOLIDAYS.
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SONNETS
  
APRIL.
  
NIGHT.
  
A BACK-LYING FARM.
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“THY WILL BE DONE.”
 I. 
I.—THE PAINTING.
 II. 
II.—TO THE PAINTER.
  
TENANTLESS.
  
ON GRANTON PIER.
  
ON LOMOND HILL.
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TWO SONNETS IN DEFENCE OF SONG.
 I. 
I. MORNING.
 II. 
II. EVENING.
  
BERRY-HILL.
  
A HUMOUR OF THE LINKS.
  
LOCHLEVEN IN NOVEMBER.
  
THE LAWN-ADONIS.
  
[A great man dies, or whom the world calls great]
  
OLD AGE—THE WRESTLER.
  
WINTER'S PALE MARTYR.
  
“A BARBARY HEN.”
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NORWEGIAN SONNETS
 I. 
I. BALDER BACK!
 II. 
II. UP THE SKAGER RACK.
 III. 
III. WELCOME!
 IV. 
IV. THAT SPEAR.
 V. 
V. MILTON IN NORWAY.
 VI. 
VI. THE SCENERY—GO AND SEE IT!
 VII. 
VII. A TERROR OF THE TWILIGHT.
 VIII. 
VIII. A WATERFALL WITHIN A WOOD.
 IX. 
IX. MINERVA IN THE SÆTERSDAL.
 X. 
X. THE LITTLE MEAL-MILL.
 XI. 
XI. THE CLIMB FROM VALLË.
 XII. 
XII. “PAA HEJA:” LIFE ON THE HEIGHTS.
 XIII. 
XIII. THE MOUNTAIN LAUREATE.
 XIV. 
XIV. A THOUGHT OF HOME.
 XV. 
XV. MORNING—THE MOUNTAIN FAMILY AT THEIR DEVOTIONS.
 XVI. 
XVI. A CANDIDATE FOR HONOURS.
 XVII. 
XVII. “THE LAST INFIRMITY.”
 XVIII. 
XVIII. HARVEST IN THE DALE.
 XIX. 
XIX. ARTHUR'S SEAT AGAIN!
 XX. 
XX. A GREY MORNING AT GRANTON.
 XXI. 
XXI. ON THE PIER AT BURNTISLAND.
 XXII. 
XXII. A RARE DIP.
 XXIII. 
XXIII. FROM THE WICKS OF BAIGLIE.
 XXIV. 
XXIV. THELEMARKEN: A PER-CONTRA.

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208

OUR MARY: HER FATE.

This was Mary twenty years ago—
Mary then was four from twenty,
Mary then was gimp and genty,
Mary then had beaux a-plenty,
Rosy cheeks and brow of snow;
Like a fairy
Was our Mary
Twenty years ago.
This was Mary nineteen years ago—
Mary then was meek and modest,
Neatly ankled, shapely bodiced,
By the village poets goddessed,
209

Classed with Dame Demeter's Oe;
Like an airy
Sylph was Mary
Nineteen years ago.
This was Mary eighteen years ago—
Mary properly deported,
Chastely with her sisters sported,
Would not kiss though she was courted,
Coaxed by many a downy beau;
Wise and wary
Was our Mary
Eighteen years ago.
This was Mary seventeen years ago—
When the lads their longing uttered
Nothing in her bosom fluttered,
And she neither stayed nor stuttered
When she simply said them No!
—Feeling nary
Had our Mary
Seventeen years ago!
210

This was Mary sixteen years ago—
When the men their custom carried
Off to other marts, and married,
Though it tested those that tarried,
Mary her ain gate would go;
Veer nor vary
Would our Mary
Sixteen years ago.
This was Mary fifteen years ago—
It was at a Christmas party
That the spinsters at écarté
Leapt up, startled by a hearty
Smack beneath the misletoe;
“Did he?—dare he?”
“Yes!” said Mary
Fifteen years ago!
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