"I knew 'twas a trumpet's note ! And I see my brethren's lances gleam, And their pennons wave, by the mountain stream, And their plumes to the glad wind float! Cease awhile, clarion! clarion wild and shrill, Cease! let them hear the captive's voice,-be still! "I am here, with my heavy chain! And I look on a torrent, sweeping by, And an eagle, rushing to the sky, And a host, to its battle plain! Cease awhile, clarion! clarion wild and shrill, Cease! let them hear the captive's voice,-be still! "Must I pine in my fetters here? With the wild wave's foam, and the free bird's flight, And the tall spears glancing on my sight, And the trumpet in mine ear? Cease awhile, clarion! clarion wild and shrill, Cease! let them hear the captive's voice,-be still! 66 They are gone! they have all pass'd by! They in whose wars I had borne my part, They that I loved with a brother's heart, They have left me here to die! Sound again, clarion! clarion pour thy blast! THE TRUMPET. THE trumpet's voice hath roused the land, A hundred banners to the breeze Their gorgeous folds have cast; And, hark! was that the sound of seas? A king to war went past! The chief is arming in his hall, The mother on her firstborn son Looks with a boding eye;— They come not back, though all be won, Whose young hearts leap so high. The bard hath ceased his song, and bound The falchion to his side; E'en for the marriage altar crowned, The lover quits his bride! And all this haste, and change, and fear, How will it be when kingdoms hear THE RETURN TO POETRY. ONCE more the eternal melodies from far, THE TREASURES OF THE DEEP. WHAT hid'st thou in thy treasure caves and cells? We ask not such from thee. Yet more, the depths have more !-what wealth untold, Far down, and shining through their stillness, lies! Thou hast the starry gems, the burning gold, Won from ten thousand royal argosies. Sweep o'er thy spoils, thou wild and wrathful main! Yet more, the depths have more!-thy waves have rolled Above the cities of a world gone by! Sand hath filled up the palaces of old, Seaweed o'ergrown the halls of revelry! Yet more, the billows and the depths have more! The battle thunders will not break their rest. Give back the lost and lovely!—those for whom The place was kept at board and hearth so long; The prayer went up through midnight's breathless gloom, And the vain yearning woke 'midst festal song! Hold fast thy buried isles, thy towers o'erthrown,— But all is not thine own! To thee the love of woman hath gone down; Dark flow thy tides o'er manhood's noble head,— O'er youth's bright locks and beauty's flowery crown! Yet must thou hear a voice,-Restore the dead! Earth shall reclaim her precious things from thee! Restore the dead, thou sea! ALLAN CUNNINGHAM was born at Blackwood, a place of much natural beauty, on Nithside, a few miles above Dumfries, on the 7th of December, 1784. His father and grandfather were farmers; and one of his ancestors, an officer under the great Montrose, shared in his leader's good and evil fortune at Kilsythe and Philiphaugh. Some hopes held out by a relative of a situation in India, having, it appears, failed, Allan, at eleven years of age, was removed from school, to learn, under an elder brother, his business of a mason. This he did not dislike, and soon became a skilful workman; but he loved still better to pore over old books-listen to old songs and tales—and roam among his native glens and hills. A thirst for knowledge came early; but a love of writing, as we have heard him say, came late. Some of his lyrics, however, found their way into a singular book,—Cromek's "Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Songs,"-and, passing for ancient, were received with an applause which at once startled and amused the writer. Dr. Percy boldly declared they were too good to be old; and the author of "Marmion" has more than once said, that not even Burns himself has enriched Scottish song with more beautiful effusions. In 1810, Mr. Cunningham was allured from the Nith to the Thames. For some years he attached himself to the public press; and in 1814, entered the studio of Sir Francis Chantrey, the distinguished sculptor, as superintendant of his works,—a station which he continues to occupy. The first volume he ventured to publish was "Sir Marmaduke Maxwell," a dramatic poem, named after one of the heroes of his native district. It was well received by critics; and Sir Walter Scott generously "Handed the rustic stranger up to fame," by a kind notice of his first attempt in the Preface to the "Fortunes of Nigel." Thenceforward Mr. Cunningham took his place among the Poets of Great Britain. He has since supplied us with but occasional proofs of his right to retain it; having devoted much of his leisure to the production of prose works of fiction; and commenced an undertaking of vast magnitude and importance,—the "Lives of the Poets from Chaucer to Coleridge”—a task for which he is eminently qualified. Few modern writers are more universally respected and esteemed than Mr. Cunningham; he numbers among his personal friends |