A Warrior so bold, and a virgin so bright,
Conversed as they sat on the green;
They gazed on each other with tender delight:
Alonzo the Brave was the name of the knight,—
The maiden’s, the Fair Imogine.
“And O,” said the youth, “since to-morrow I go
To fight in a far distant land,
Your tears for my absence soon ceasing to flow,...
I Love contemplating—apart
From all his homicidal glory—
The traits that soften to our heart
Napoleon’s glory!
’T was when his banners at Boulogne
Armed in our island every freeman,
His navy chanced to capture one
Poor British seaman.
They suffered him—I know not how—
Unprisoned on the shore to roam;...
George Iii. and a Dying Woman in Windsor Forest
OUTSTRETCHED beneath the leafy shade
Of Windsor forest’s deepest glade,
A dying woman lay;
Three little children round her stood,
And there went up from the greenwood
A woful wail that day.
“O mother!” was the mingled cry,
“O mother, mother! do not die,
And...
“o, Came ye ower by the Yoke-burn Ford,
Or down the King’s Road o’ the cleuch? 1
Or saw ye a knight and a lady bright,
Wha ha’e gane the gate they baith shall rue?”
“I saw a knight and a lady bright
Ride up the cleuch at the break of day;
The knight upon a coal-black steed,
And the dame on one of a silver-gray.
“And...
A Chieftain, to the Highlands bound,
Cries, “Boatman, do not tarry!
And I ’ll give thee a silver pound,
To row us o’er the ferry.”
“Now who be ye, would cross Lochgyle,
This dark and stormy water?”
“O, I ’m the chief of Ulva’s isle,
And this Lord Ullin’s daughter.
“And fast before her father’s men
Three days...
From “Marmion,” Canto VI.
NOT far advanced was morning day,
When Marmion did his troops array
To Surrey’s camp to ride;
He had safe-conduct for his band,
Beneath the royal seal and hand,
And Douglas gave a guide:
The ancient Earl, with stately grace,
Would Clara on her palfrey place,
And whispered in an undertone,...
From “The Lady of the Lake,” Canto V.
“I AM by promise tried
To match me with this man of pride:
Twice have I sought Clan-Alpine’s glen
In peace; but when I come again,
I come with banner, brand, and bow,
As leader seek this mortal foe.
For lovelorn swain, in lady’s bower,
Ne’er panted for the appointed hour,...
From “The Lady of the Lake,” Canto VI.
A FOOTSTEP struck her ear,
And Snowdoun’s graceful Knight was near.
She turned the hastier, lest again
The prisoner should renew his strain.
“O welcome, brave Fitz-James!” she said;
“How may an almost orphan maid
Pay the deep debt”—“O, say not so!
To me no gratitude you owe.
...
From “The Lay of the Last Minstrel,” Canto VI.
O CALEDONIA! stern and wild,
Meet nurse for a poetic child!
Land of brown heath and shaggy wood,
Land of the mountain and the flood,
Land of my sires! what mortal hand
Can e’er untie the filial band
That knits me to thy rugged strand?
Still, as I view each well-known scene,
...
A Pindaric Ode
I.
“RUIN seize thee, ruthless King!
Confusion on thy banners wait;
Tho’ fanned by Conquest’s crimson wing,
They mock the air with idle state,
Helm, nor hauberk’s twisted mail,
Nor e’en thy virtues, Tyrant, shall avail
To save thy secret soul from nightly fears,
From Cambria’s curse, from Cambria’s...
