VI
THE LAMENT OF ARGATHELIA
For the early descent
of the House of Argyll reference has been here made to the great
historical works of Skene and Joseph Robertson.
24-25 May, 1878
Dalriada, the dew on thy mountain-tops high
Weeps in silence the night, for thy mistress must die:
Dark shrouds o'er the summit of Cruachan draw,
And a shuddering flits on the face of Loch Awe.
Over Cowal are voices of terror and grief,
The chiefs of Ergadia lamenting their chief,
Where the sons of Earca and Arthur and Lorne,
Dunolly, and Colin, and Somarled mourn.
Stern souls, who have pass'd to the passionless shore
From the bloodshed and harsh battle-music of yore:
Yet amid the red rapine and whirlwind of life,
Knew the magic and sweetness of daughter and wife.
O well should all hearts on the mountain-side moan!
Though 'tis not for a child of Diarmid they groan,
But for her who in girlhood and graciousness came
To be one with the high-hearted lord of their name.
As rosebud with rose in the woodland we view,
The bride by her mother in loveliness grew:—
Now, beneath other skies, Love His children has ta'en
Where the roses of God bloom together again.
Dalriada, the mountain-voice lift for the dead!
From thy valleys her sunshine and sweetness are fled:
Bless'd by the eye when it saw her; and more
By the Master unseen Whose true image she bore.
As the burn to the haugh carries life and increase,
Her feet on the mountains were beauty and peace:
Lips gracious with love; and around the fair head
The glory of utter unselfishness shed.
—O! the dearest and nearest her praises should tell,
If the tongue could but speak what the heart knows too well;
For she whom the sons of Diarmid deplore
Between beauty and goodness was something yet more!
Dante:
------tra bella e buona
Non so che fosse più------
She is lost to our eyes, but her footsteps are bright
On the path leading upward to light beyond light:
And long will the vision of all she was here
To dark Argathelia's clansmen be dear.
The sky weeps in silence on moorside and brae
For the soul that has pass'd since the passing of day:—
And to-morrow, as dew when the wind hurries o'er,
Dalriada shall seek her, and find her no more.
