And though some trifling share of praise, To cheer my last declining days, To me were doubly dear; Whilst blessing your beloved name, To prove a prophet here. A bard (horresco referens) defied his reviewer to mortal combat. If is example becomes prevalent, our periodical censors must be dipped in the river Styx; for what else can secure them from the numerous host of their enraged assailants? A MEDLEY. «Αργύραις λογχαισι μάχου καὶ πάντα Κρατήσεις να OH! Could LE SAGE'S † demon's gift Be realized at my desire, This night my trembling form he'd lift To place it on St. Mary's spire. Then would, unroof'd, old Granta's halls Then would I view each rival wight, Lo! candidates and voters lie All lull'd in sleep, a goodly number! A race renown'd for piety, Whose conscience won't disturb their slumber Lord H-, indeed, may not demur; They know preferment can occur They know the chancellor has got Some pretty livings in disposal: Each hopes that one may be his lot, And therefore smiles on his proposal. Now from the soporific scene § I'll turn mine eye, as night grows later, To view unheeded and unseen The studious sons of Alma Mater. There, in apartments small and damp, He surely well deserves to gain them, With all the honors of his college, Who, striving hardly to obtain them, Thus seeks unprofitable knowledge: Who sacrifices hours of rest To scan precisely metres Attic; Or agitates his anxious breast In solving problems mathematic: The motto was not given in the private volume. The Diable Boiteux of Le Sage, where Asmodeus, the demon, places Don Cleofas on an elevated situation, and unroofs the houses for inspection. ‡ Lo! candidates and voters lie, &c. The fourth and fifth stanzas, which are given here as they were printed in the Hours of Idleness, ran as follows, in the private volume : "One on his power and place depends, The other on the Lord knows what ; "The first, indeed, may not demur." § From the soporific scene. In the private volume, From corruption's shameless scene. Who reads false quantities in Sele,* In barbarous Latin † doom'd to wrangle: Renouncing every pleasing page From authors of historic use; Preferring to the letter'd sage The square of the hypothenuse.‡ Still, harmless are these occupations, That hurt none but the hapless student, Compared with other recreations, Which bring together the imprudent: Whose daring revels shock the sight, Not so the methodistic crew, Who plans of reformation lay; In humble attitude they sue, And for the sins of others pray: Forgetting that their pride of spirit, 'Tis morn: from these I turn my sight: Loud rings in air the chapel bell; 'Tis hush'd:-what sounds are these I hear? The organ's soft, celestial swell Rolls deeply on the list'ning ear. To this is join'd the sacred song, Our choir would scarcely be excused, To such a set of croaking sinners. If David, when his toils were ended, Had heard these blockheads sing before him, To us his psalms had ne'er descended, In furious mood he would have tore 'em. The luckless Israelites, when taken, • Sele's publication on Greek metres displays considerable talent and ingenuity, but, as might be expected in so difficult a work, is not remarkable for accuracy. In the private volume, “Sele's publication on Greek metres is not remarkable for its accuracy." † The Latin of the schools is of the canine species, and not very intelligible. In the private volume, "Every Cambridge man will assent to this. The Latin of the schools is almost unintelligible.' I sue for pardon,-must I sue in vain ? My lyre, the heart; my muse, the simple truth. If I scribble longer. In the private volume, If I write much longer. †These lines were printed in the private volume, and in the first edition The discovery of Pythagoras, that the square of the hypothenuse is equal of Hours of Idleness, but afterwards omitted. to the squares of the other two sides of a right-angled triangle. § On a saint's day, the students wear surplices in chapel. Imprudent. In the private volume, unworthy. § Wild. Private volume, sole. No net to snare her willing heart is spread; I seek not glory from the senseless crowd; November 26, 1806. Still were you happy in death's earthy slumber, Years have roll'd on, Loch na Garr, since I left you, Yet still are you dearer than Albion's plain. LACHIN Y. GAIR.* Lachin y. Gair, or, as it is pronounced in the Erse, Loch na Garr, towers proudly preeminent in the Northern Highlands, near Invercauld. One of our modern tourists mentions it as the highest mountain, perhaps, in Great Britain. Be this as it may, it is certainly one of the most sublime and picturesque among our "Caledonian Alps." Its appearance is of a dusky hue, but the summit is the seat of eternal snows. Near Lachin y. Gair I spent some of the early part of my life, the recollection of which has given birth to the following stanzas. AWAY, ye gay landscapes, ye gardens of roses! Round their white summits though elements war ; Though cataracts foam 'stead of smooth-flowing fountains, I sigh for the valley of dark Loch na Garr. Ah! where my young footsteps in infancy wander'd; My cap was the bonnet, my cloak was the plaid; † On chieftains long perish'd my memory ponder'd, As daily I strode through the pine-covered glade : I sought not my home till the day's dying glory Gave place to the rays of the bright polar star; For fancy was cheer'd by traditional story, Disclosed by the natives of dark Loch na Garr. "Shades of the dead! have I not heard your voices Rise on the night-rolling breath of the gale?" Surely the soul of the hero rejoices, And rides on the wind o'er his own Highland vale. Round Loch na Garr while the stormy mist gathers, Winter presides in his cold icy car: Clouds there encircle the forms of my fathers; They dwell in the tempests of dark Loch na Garr. "Ill-starr'd, though brave, did no visions fore boding, Tell you that fate had forsaken your cause? Ah! were you destined to die at Culloden,§ Victory crown'd not your fall with applause: • First published in Hours of Idleness. This word is erroneously pronounced plad; the proper pronunciation (according to the Scotch) is known by the orthography. I allude here to my maternal ancestors "the Gordons," many of whom fought for the unfortunate Prince Charles, better known by the name of the Pretender. This branch was nearly allied by blood, as well as attachment, to the Stuarts. George, the second earl of Huntley, married the Princess Annabella Stuart, daughter of James the First of Scotland. By her he left four sons: the third, Sir William Gordon, I have the honor to claim as one of my progenitors. § Whether any perished in the battle of Culloden, I am not certain; but, as many fell in the Insurrection, I have used the name of the principal action, pars pro toto." TO ROMANCE.I PARENT of golden dreams, Romance! But leave thy realms for those of Truth. And yet 'tis hard to quit the dreams And even woman's smiles are true. And must we own thee but a name, And from thy hall of clouds descend? A Pylades § in every friend? To mingling bands of fairy elves? And friends have feeling for-themselves? With shame I own I've felt thy sway; Repentant, now thy reign is o'er: No more thy precepts I obey, No more on fancied pinions soar. Fond fool! to love a sparkling eye, And think that eye to truth was dear; To trust a passing wanton's sigh, And melt beneath a wanton's tear. Romance! disgusted with deceit, Far from thy motley court I fly, Where Affectation holds her seat, And sickly Sensibility; * A tract of the Highlands so called. There is also a Castle of Braemar. ↑ The bagpipe. First published in the Hours of Idleness. § It is hardly necessary to add, that Pylades was the companion of Orestes, and a partner in one of those friendships which, with those of Achilles and Patroclus, Nisus and Euryalus, Damon and Pythias, have been handed down to posterity as remarkable instances of attachments, which in all proba bility never existed beyond the imagination of the poet, or the page of as historian or modern novelist. Whose silly tears can never flow For any pangs excepting thine; Who turns aside from real wo, To steep in dew thy gaudy shrine. Now join with sable Sympathy, With cypress crown'd, array'd in weeds, Who heaves with thee her simple sigh, Whose breast for every bosom bleeds; And call thy sylvan female choir, To mourn a swain for ever gone, Who once could glow with equal fire, But bends not now before thy throne. Ye genial nymphs, whose ready tears From you a sympathetic strain. Adieu, fond race! a long adieu ! The hour of fate is hovering nigh; E'en now the gulf appears in view, Where unlamented you must lie: Oblivion's blackening lake is seen, Convulsed by gales you cannot weather; Where you, and eke your gentle queen, Alas! must perish altogether. ELEGY ON NEWSTEAD ABBEY.* "It is the voice of years that are gone! they roll before me with all their deeds."t-Ossian. NEWSTEAD! fast-falling, once resplendent dome! Religion's shrine! repentant HENRY'S ‡ pride! Of warriors, monks, and dames the cloister'd tomb, Whose pensive shades around thy ruins glide. Hail to thy pile! more honor'd in thy fall Than modern mansions in their pillar'd state; Proudly majestic frowns thy vaulted hall, Scowling defiance on the blasts of fate. No mail-clad serfs, obedient to their lord, Their chief's retainers, an immortal band: Else might inspiring Fancy's magic eye Retrace their progress through the lapse of time; Marking each ardent youth, ordain'd to die, A votive pilgrim in Judea's clime. * As one poem on this subject is printed in the beginning, the author had, originally, no intention of inserting the following: it is now added at the particular request of some friends. See page 413 of this edition. * The motto was not given in the private volume. Henry 11. founded Newstead soon after the murder of Thomas à Becket. As "gloaming," the Scottish word for twilight, is far more poetical, and has been recommended by many eminent literary men, particularly by Dr. Moore in his Letters to Burns, I have ventured to use it on account of its harmony. ↑ Gloaming spreads her waning shade. In the private volume, Twilight winds a waning shade. The priory was dedicated to the Virgin. At the dissolution of the monasteries, Henry VIII. bestowed Newstead § This word is used by Walter Scott in his poem, "The Wild Huntsman," Abbey on Sir John Byron. ynenymous with vassal. The red cross was the badge of the crusader. Newstead sustained a considerable siege in the war between Charles 1. and his parliament. * Lord Byron and his brother: Sir William held high command in the royal army; the former was general-in-chief in Ireland, lieutenant of the A thousand songs on tuneful echo float, Beneath their coursers' hoofs the valleys shake; Ah happy days! too happy to endure ! Their joys were many, as their cares were few. From these descending, sons to sires succeed; Newstead! what saddening change of scene is thine! Now holds thy mouldering turrets in his sway. Deserted now, he scans thy gray worn trowers ; Yet are his tears no emblem of regret; Yet he prefers thee to the gilded domes Or gewgaw grottos of the vainly great; Tower, and governor to James, Duke of York, afterwards the unhappy Haply thy sun, emerging, yet may shine, James II.; the latter had a principal share in many actions.-Vide Clarendon, Hume, &c. † Lucius Cary, Lord Viscount Falkland, the most accomplished man of his age, was killed at the battle of Newberry, charging in the ranks of Lord Byron's regiment of cavalry. ‡ Martial. The private volume reads laurell’d. § Sable Horror. In the private volume, Horror stalking. Thee to irradiate with meridian ray; * Charles II. This is an historical fact. A violent tempest occurred immediately subsequent to the death or interment of Cromwell, which occasioned many disputes † Hours splendid, &c. In the private volume and the first edition between his partisans and the cavaliers: both interpreted the circumstance Hos of Idleness, the stanza ended with the following lines: into divine interposition; but whether as approbation or condemnation, we eave to the casuist of that age to decide. I have made such use of the occurrence as suited the subject of my poem. "Fortune may smile upon a future line, |