Page images
PDF
EPUB

A thousand hearts beat happily; and when
Music arose with its voluptuous swell,

Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again,
And all went merry as a marriage bell.

But, hush! hark! a deep sound strikes like a rising knell !

Did ye not hear it?—No: 'twas but the wind,
Or the car rattling o'er the stony street.

On with the dance! let joy be unconfined;
No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet
To chase the glowing hours with flying feet.
But, hark! that heavy sound breaks in once more,
As if the clouds its echo would repeat;

And nearer, clearer, deadlier than before!

Arm! arm! it is-it is the cannon's opening roar!
Ah! then and there was hurrying to and fro,
And gathering tears, and tremblings of distress,
And cheeks all pale, which but an hour ago
Blushed at the praise of their own loveliness.
And there were sudden partings, such as press
The life from out young hearts, and choking sighs
Which ne'er might be repeated: who could guess
If ever more should meet those mutual eyes,
Since upon night so sweet such awful morn could rise!

And there was mounting in hot haste: the steed,
The mustering squadron, and the clattering car,
Went pouring forward with impetuous speed,
And swiftly forming in the ranks of war;

[ocr errors][merged small]

And the deep thunder peal on peal afar;
And near, the beat of the alarming drum
Roused up the soldier ere the morning star;

While thronged the citizens with terror dumb, Or whispering with white lips, "The foe! they come! they come!"

4

And wild and high the "Cameron's Gathering "1 rose,
The war note of Lochiel, which Albyn's 2 hills
Have heard—and heard, too, have her Saxon foes: 8
How in the noon of night that pibroch thrills,
Savage and shrill! But with the breath which fills
Their mountain pipe, so fill the mountaineers
With the fierce native daring which instills

The stirring memory of a thousand years,

5

And Evan's, Donald's fame rings in each clansman's ears!

6

And Ardennes waves above them her green leaves,
Dewy with Nature's teardrops as they pass,
Grieving, if aught inanimate e'er grieves,
Over the unreturning brave-alas!

1 "Cameron's Gathering." It should be borne in mind that in Wellington's army were several regiments of Scottish Highlanders, and that "Cameron's Gathering" | is a battle tune, the "war note" of Lochiel (lo-keel'), the chief of the Cameron clan.

2 Albyn; i.e., Scotland.

8 Saxon foes; i.e., the Lowland Scotch, with whom the Highlanders were long at enmity.

4 pibroch (pē'brok), a bagpipe tune; and the reference is to the "Cameron's Gathering."

5 Evan's, Donald's. Evan and Donald are very common Christian names among the Highland clansmen.

6 Ardennes (pron. är-den'; but here, for sake of meter, ärʼden); i.e., the forest of Ardennes, and which the poet uses to typify Belgium.

Ere evening to be trodden like the grass

Which now beneath them, but above shall grow
In its next verdure, when this fiery mass

Of living valor, rolling on the foe,

And burning with high hope, shall molder cold and low.

Last noon beheld them full of lusty life,

Last eve in Beauty's circle proudly gay:
The midnight brought the signal sound of strife;
The morn, the marshaling in arms; the day,
Battle's magnificently stern array.

The thunderclouds close o'er it, which, when rent,
The earth is covered thick with other clay,

Which her own clay shall cover, heaped and pent,1

Rider and horse, friend, foe,-in one red burial blent!2

[ocr errors]

BYRON.

106. - The Blind Men and the Elephant.

It was six men of Indostan,
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the elephant,

(Though all of them were blind),

That each by observation

Might satisfy his mind.

The first approached the elephant,
And, happening to fall

1 pent (= penned), confined.

2 blent = blended, commingled.

Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl,
"Why, bless me! but the elephant
Is very like a wall!"

The second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, "Ho! what have we here,

So very round, and smooth, and sharp?
To me 'tis very clear,
This wonder of an elephant

Is very like a spear!"

The third approached the animal,
And, happening to take

The squirming trunk within his hands,

Thus boldly up he spake:

"I see," quoth he, "the elephant

Is very like a snake!"

The fourth reached out his eager hand,

And felt about the knee:

"What most this wondrous beast is like,

Is very plain," quoth he:

""Tis clear enough the elephant Is very like a tree!"

The fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,

Said: "E'en the blindest man

Can tell what this resembles most:

Deny the fact who can,

This marvel of an elephant

Is very like a fan!"

The sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,

Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,

"I see," quoth he, "the elephant
Is very like a rope!"

And so these men of Indostan

Disputed loud and long,

Each in his own opinion

Exceeding stiff and strong;

Though each was partly in the right, And all were in the wrong.

SAXE

107.-Ring Out, Wild Bells.

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light;
The year is dying in the night:
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,

Ring, happy bells, across the snow; The year is going, let him go: Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind

For those that here we see no more; Ring out the feud of rich and poor, Ring in redress to all mankind.

« PreviousContinue »