Memoir and remains of the Rev. James D. Burns ... By the late Rev. James Hamilton [i.e. J. D. Burns] |
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A REMINISCENCE. |
 | Memoir and remains of the Rev. James D. Burns |  |
A REMINISCENCE.
[_]
(Suggested by a scene passed on his journey to Edinburgh in May 1863. Written at Mentone, 1864.)
It was a singular fancy
That flash'd on my mind to-day,
As through the fair shifting landscape
I was whirled on the iron way.
That flash'd on my mind to-day,
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I was whirled on the iron way.
Fringed with green rushes and lilies,
With no ripple to fret its flow,
A river sail'd on through broad meadows,
All bright with a vernal glow.
With no ripple to fret its flow,
A river sail'd on through broad meadows,
All bright with a vernal glow.
The meadows sloped gently downwards
To the river's clear brimming tide,
Overwaved with sweet May blossom
A hedgerow skirted its side,
To the river's clear brimming tide,
Overwaved with sweet May blossom
A hedgerow skirted its side,
And knee-deep in the rich pasture
The white kine wander'd at will,
Or couch'd beneath an old elm-tree,
Where the shadows were cool and still.
The white kine wander'd at will,
Or couch'd beneath an old elm-tree,
Where the shadows were cool and still.
A picture so bright and so peaceful,
So touch'd with a pastoral grace,
The spirit of some old Greek idyl
Seemed to breathe in the silent place.
So touch'd with a pastoral grace,
The spirit of some old Greek idyl
Seemed to breathe in the silent place.
Far over the sunny meadows
A gloomy oak-forest cast
A broad black belt of shadow
From an immemorial past.
A gloomy oak-forest cast
A broad black belt of shadow
From an immemorial past.
And dimly seen over its umbrage
Rose a castle moulder'd and gray,
Its walls and its turrets embattled
Still standing the siege of decay;
Rose a castle moulder'd and gray,
Its walls and its turrets embattled
Still standing the siege of decay;
The hold of some grim old baron,
In the stormy feudal years,
Who oft through its portals had sallied
With a clash and glitter of spears.
In the stormy feudal years,
Who oft through its portals had sallied
With a clash and glitter of spears.
And sudden there came the impression,
As I gazed on this tranquil scene,
That here, at some time dim-remember'd,
Like a former life, I had been.
As I gazed on this tranquil scene,
That here, at some time dim-remember'd,
Like a former life, I had been.
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Methought that before my glances
A familiar vision did pass,
The reflection of some old picture
Still mirror'd in memory's glass.
A familiar vision did pass,
The reflection of some old picture
Still mirror'd in memory's glass.
A mood of strange contradiction,
When the mind sees things in a trance,
And dreams of a former existence
Float vaguely before its glance.
When the mind sees things in a trance,
And dreams of a former existence
Float vaguely before its glance.
Now, thus as my mind was divided,
I saw two men on the way,
The open highway unshadow'd,
Which white in the sunshine lay.
I saw two men on the way,
The open highway unshadow'd,
Which white in the sunshine lay.
They came to a stile in the hedgerow
Which into the meadows went,
And, weary and hot with travel,
On its moss-grown bar they leant.
Which into the meadows went,
And, weary and hot with travel,
On its moss-grown bar they leant.
They gazed on the soft deep herbage,
With a gaze that was long and fond,
On the broad, cool, slumb'rous shadow
Of the green forest-chase beyond.
With a gaze that was long and fond,
On the broad, cool, slumb'rous shadow
Of the green forest-chase beyond.
They felt its subtle attraction,
They thought of the dust and heat,
And over the stile they clamber'd,
And the grass to their tread was sweet.
They thought of the dust and heat,
And over the stile they clamber'd,
And the grass to their tread was sweet.
I saw them go slowly onwards
To the ancient and solemn wood,
I saw the gray walls and turrets
That in mystical stillness stood.
To the ancient and solemn wood,
I saw the gray walls and turrets
That in mystical stillness stood.
And I thought, these twain are pilgrims,
Who to the far city fare,
They have stray'd from the path, and yonder
Is the hold of Giant Despair.
Who to the far city fare,
They have stray'd from the path, and yonder
Is the hold of Giant Despair.
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Then I knew that oft in my boyhood,
On a calm bright Sabbath tide,
In these fair meadows I wander'd
With Bunyan as my guide.
On a calm bright Sabbath tide,
In these fair meadows I wander'd
With Bunyan as my guide.
| Memoir and remains of the Rev. James D. Burns | |