And see, the fairy valleys fade; Dun night has veil'd the solemn view! Yet once again, dear parted shade, Meek Nature's Child, again adieu ! с The genial meads, assign'd to bless Thy life, shall mourn thy early doom; Their hinds and shepherd-girls shall dress,、、 With simple hands, thy rural tomb. Long, long, thy stone and pointed clay`` c Mr. Thomson resided in the neighbourhood of Richmond some time before his death. F ODE ON THE POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS OF THE HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND; CONSIDERED AS THE SUBJECT OF POETRY; INSCRIBED TO MR. JOHN HOME. (I. HOME, thou return'st from Thames, whose Naiads long a Have seen thee lingering with a fond delay,↳ 'Mid those soft friends, whose hearts, some fu ture day, Shall melt, perhaps, to hear thy tragic song,da Go, not unmindful of that cordial youth 5 Whom, long endear'd, thou leavest by Levant's side; Together let us wish him lasting truth, And joy untainted with his destined bride.c Go! nor regardless, while these numbers boast < My short-lived bliss, forget my social name ;$10 But think, far off, how, on the southern coast, I met thy friendship with an equal flame! d How truly did Collins predict Home's tragic powers! e A gentleman of the name of Barrow, who introduced Home to Collins. Fresh to that soil thou turnʼst, where every vale Shall prompt the poet, and his song demand: To thee thy copious subjects ne'er shall fail; 15 Thou need'st but take thy pencil to thy hand,h And paint what all believe, who own thy genial land. II. There, must thou wake perforce thy Doric quill; While airy minstrels warble jocund notes. 25 Such airy beings awe the untutor'd swain: 30 Nor thou, though learn'd, his homelier thoughts neglect ; Let thy sweet muse the rural faith sustain; h These are the themes of simple, sure effect, That add new conquests to her boundless reign, And fill, with double force, her heart-command ing strain. 35 3 III. E'en yet preserved, how often mayst thou hear, a Where to the pole the Boreal mountains run, Taught by the father, to his listening son, Strange lays, whose power had charm'd a Spenser's ear. At every pause, before thy mind possest, 40 Old Runic bards shall seem to rise around, With uncouth lyres, in many-colour'd vest, Their matted hair with boughs fantastic crown'd: Whether thou bidst the well taught hind repeat The choral dirge, that mourns some chieftain brave, When every shrieking maid her bosom beat, And strew'd with choicest herbs his scented grave! i Or whether, sitting in the shepherd's shiel, 45 Thou hear'st some sounding tale of war's alarms; When at the bugle's call, with fire and steel, 50 The sturdy clans pour'd forth their brawny swarms, And hostile brothers met, to prove each other's arms. VARIATIONS. Ver. 44. Whether thou bidst the well taught hind relate 51. The sturdy clans pour'd forth their bony swarms, f A summer hut, built in the high part of the mountains, to tend their flocks in the warm season, when the pasture is fine. IV. "Tis thine to sing, how, framing hideous spells, gross, 56 60 With their own visions oft astonish'd droop, 65 For them the viewless forms of air obey; Their bidding heed, and at their beck repair: They know what spirit brews the stormful day, And heartless, oft like moody madness, stare To see the phantom train their secret work V. prepare. To monarchs dear, some hundred miles astray, 70 VARIATIONS. Ver. 56. Or in the gloom of Uist's dark forest dwells : |