 | The Poetical Works of Robert Story |  |
129
With Bounding Step.
1833.
[_]
[These lines are founded on the following fact:—Some thirty years ago two boys, sons of a gentleman in Malham, left their home in search of birds' nests. Arriving at the top of a lofty crag, called Cam Scar, the elder, an adventurous little fellow of five or six years old, descended the tremendous precipice, and having secured a hawk's nest, was returning to the summit, when, stooping to pluck a knot of cowslips, he lost his hold and fell. His brother, too young to understand what had happened, found his body at the foot of the rock, and after repeatedly shaking it, returned home, quite unconcerned. “I shook him very hard,” said he, in answer to his father's inquiries, “but he was sound asleep.”]
With bounding step, and laughing eye,
Young Edgar sprang his sire to hail—
The child had rambled far and high
Among the crags of Malhamdale—
Young Edgar sprang his sire to hail—
The child had rambled far and high
Among the crags of Malhamdale—
“See, father, what a pretty wreath
Of flowers;—I would their names I knew!—
I found this bright one on the heath,
Its golden leaves all moist with dew.
Of flowers;—I would their names I knew!—
I found this bright one on the heath,
Its golden leaves all moist with dew.
“This, father, is a primrose pale,
I knew it in its hazel bower—
But every child within the dale
Knows, as I think, the primrose-flower.
I knew it in its hazel bower—
But every child within the dale
Knows, as I think, the primrose-flower.
130
“O, this small bud 'twas hard to spy!
Deep in a mossy cleft it grew:
With nought to look at, save the sky,
It seems to have imbibed its blue!”
Deep in a mossy cleft it grew:
With nought to look at, save the sky,
It seems to have imbibed its blue!”
Not yet, perchance, had Edgar stayed
The prattle, to a parent dear;
But—“Why,” the anxious father said,
“Is Henry, with his flowers, not here?”
The prattle, to a parent dear;
But—“Why,” the anxious father said,
“Is Henry, with his flowers, not here?”
“My brother? O, I had forgot,”
The little rosy boy replied,
“I left him in the wildest spot—
Asleep—yon mighty crag beside.”
The little rosy boy replied,
“I left him in the wildest spot—
Asleep—yon mighty crag beside.”
“Asleep, my boy?”—“Yes, father. We
A hawk had startled from a chink;
And, on the crag's top leaving me,
My brother clambered round its brink.
A hawk had startled from a chink;
And, on the crag's top leaving me,
My brother clambered round its brink.
“Soon did I hear his shout of glee—
The nest became his instant prize;
When, clambering back his way to me,
A knot of cowslips caught his eyes.
The nest became his instant prize;
When, clambering back his way to me,
A knot of cowslips caught his eyes.
“He stooped, and disappeared. Some time
I stood and watched the hazel shoot,
By which my brother up might climb;
At last I sought the crag's green foot:
I stood and watched the hazel shoot,
By which my brother up might climb;
At last I sought the crag's green foot:
“I found him lying on the sward,
The grassy sward beneath the steep;
I shook, and shook him very hard—
But, father, he was sound asleep.”
The grassy sward beneath the steep;
I shook, and shook him very hard—
But, father, he was sound asleep.”
131
The father shrieked the lost one's name!
Young Edgar heard, and held his breath;
For o'er him, with a shudder, came
The thought that he had been with—Death!
Young Edgar heard, and held his breath;
For o'er him, with a shudder, came
The thought that he had been with—Death!
He led them to the fatal spot,
Where still and cold his brother lay,
Within his hand the cowslip-knot
That lured his heedless foot astray.
Where still and cold his brother lay,
Within his hand the cowslip-knot
That lured his heedless foot astray.
That cowslip-knot shall never pour
Its sweets again on summer gale,
And that poor boy shall never more
Climb the wild crags of Malhamdale!
Its sweets again on summer gale,
And that poor boy shall never more
Climb the wild crags of Malhamdale!
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