Bothwell A Poem In Six Parts: By William Edmondstoune Aytoun: Third Edition, Revised |
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| I. |
| II. |
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| VI. |
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| IX. | IX. |
| X. |
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| XV. |
| XVI. |
| XVII. |
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 | Bothwell |  |
IX.
We found him graithed in steel array—
O, often yet I think of him!
The strongest warrior of his day,
A giant both in thewes and limb.
He was my friend, my father's too;
But he is dead—nor only he,
For the black gibbet was the doom
Of every man who stood by me!
Well, well! God sain them—sain them all!
If what they died for was a crime,
Death was atonement: for the rest
I'll answer in the coming time,
As I must answer.
O, often yet I think of him!
The strongest warrior of his day,
A giant both in thewes and limb.
He was my friend, my father's too;
But he is dead—nor only he,
For the black gibbet was the doom
Of every man who stood by me!
Well, well! God sain them—sain them all!
If what they died for was a crime,
Death was atonement: for the rest
I'll answer in the coming time,
As I must answer.
“Ormiston!”
“Welcome, Lord Earl, but not too soon;
I've waited here an hour and more,
And cursed the coming of the moon.
Thanks to the mist, the Borderer's friend,
We shall not see her face to-night;
I never rode a foray yet
When I had comfort from her light.
So Morton has not sent his men?
I'm glad on't, Earl! 'Twere shame, I swear,
That fifty jackmen should be brought
To see one stripling vault in air.”
“Welcome, Lord Earl, but not too soon;
94
And cursed the coming of the moon.
Thanks to the mist, the Borderer's friend,
We shall not see her face to-night;
I never rode a foray yet
When I had comfort from her light.
So Morton has not sent his men?
I'm glad on't, Earl! 'Twere shame, I swear,
That fifty jackmen should be brought
To see one stripling vault in air.”
| Bothwell | |