Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers and Other Poems Part 12

And not a man of all that clan Had ever ceased to pray For the Royal race they loved so well, Though exiled far away From the steadfast Scottish cavaliers, All of the olden time!

III.

His father drew the righteous sword For Scotland and her claims, Among the loyal gentlemen And chiefs of ancient names Who swore to fight or fall beneath The standard of King James, And died at Killiecrankie pa.s.s With the glory of the Graemes; Like a true old Scottish cavalier, All of the olden time!

IV.

He never owned the foreign rule, No master he obeyed, But kept his clan in peace at home, From foray and from raid; And when they asked him for his oath, He touched his glittering blade, And pointed to his bonnet blue, That bore the white c.o.c.kade: Like a leal old Scottish cavalier, All of the olden time!

V.

At length the news ran through the land-- THE PRINCE had come again!

That night the fiery cross was sped O'er mountain and through glen; And our old Baron rose in might, Like a lion from his den, And rode away across the hills To Charlie and his men, With the valiant Scottish cavaliers, All of the olden time!

VI.

He was the first that bent the knee When the STANDARD waved abroad, He was the first that charged the foe On Preston's b.l.o.o.d.y sod; And ever, in the van of fight, The foremost still he trod, Until, on bleak Culloden's heath, He gave his soul to G.o.d, Like a good old Scottish cavalier, All of the olden time!

VII.

Oh! never shall we know again A heart so stout and true-- The olden times have pa.s.sed away, And weary are the new: The fair White Rose has faded From the garden where it grew, And no fond tears save those of heaven The glorious bed bedew Of the last old Scottish cavalier, All of the olden time!

MISCELLANEOUS POEMS

BLIND OLD MILTON

Place me once more, my daughter, where the sun May s.h.i.+ne upon my old and time-worn head, For the last time, perchance. My race is run; And soon amidst the ever-silent dead I must repose, it may be, half forgot.

Yes! I have broke the hard and bitter bread For many a year, with those who trembled not To buckle on their armour for the fight, And set themselves against the tyrant's lot; And I have never bowed me to his might, Nor knelt before him--for I bear within My heart the sternest consciousness of right, And that perpetual hate of gilded sin Which made me what I am; and though the stain Of poverty be on me, yet I win More honour by it, than the blinded train Who hug their willing servitude, and bow Unto the weakest and the most profane.

Therefore, with unenc.u.mbered soul I go Before the footstool of my Maker, where I hope to stand as undebased as now!

Child! is the sun abroad? I feel my hair Borne up and wafted by the gentle wind, I feel the odours that perfume the air, And hear the rustling of the leaves behind.

Within my heart I picture them, and then I almost can forget that I am blind, And old, and hated by my fellow-men.

Yet would I fain once more behold the grace Of nature ere I die, and gaze again Upon her living and rejoicing face-- Fain would I see thy countenance, my child, My comforter! I feel thy dear embrace-- I hear thy voice, so musical, and mild, The patient, sole interpreter, by whom So many years of sadness are beguiled; For it hath made my small and scanty room Peopled with glowing visions of the past.

But I will calmly bend me to my doom, And wait the hour which is approaching fast, When triple light shall stream upon mine eyes, And heaven itself be opened up at last To him who dared foretell its mysteries.

I have had visions in this drear eclipse Of outward consciousness, and clomb the skies, Striving to utter with my earthly lips What the diviner soul had half divined, Even as the Saint in his Apocalypse Who saw the inmost glory, where enshrined Sat He who fas.h.i.+oned glory. This hath driven All outward strife and tumult from my mind, And humbled me, until I have forgiven My bitter enemies, and only seek To find the straight and narrow path to heaven.

Yet I am weak--oh! how entirely weak, For one who may not love nor suffer more!

Sometimes unbidden tears will wet my cheek, And my heart bound as keenly as of yore, Responsive to a voice, now hushed to rest, Which made the beautiful Italian sh.o.r.e, In all its pomp of summer vineyards drest, An Eden and a Paradise to me.

Do the sweet breezes from the balmy west Still murmur through thy groves, Parthenope, In search of odours from the orange bowers?

Still on thy slopes of verdure does the bee Cull her rare honey from the virgin flowers?

And Philomel her plaintive chaunt prolong 'Neath skies more calm and more serene than ours, Making the summer one perpetual song?

Art thou the same as when in manhood's pride I walked in joy thy gra.s.sy meads among, With that fair youthful vision by my side, In whose bright eyes I looked--and not in vain?

O my adored angel! O my bride!

Despite of years, and woe, and want, and pain, My soul yearns back towards thee, and I seem To wander with thee, hand in hand, again, By the bright margin of that flowing stream.

I hear again thy voice, more silver-sweet Than fancied music floating in a dream, Possess my being; from afar I greet The waving of thy garments in the glade, And the light rustling of thy fairy feet-- What time as one half eager, half afraid, Love's burning secret faltered on my tongue, And tremulous looks and broken words betrayed The secret of the heart from whence they sprung.

Ah me! the earth that rendered thee to heaven Gave up an angel beautiful and young, Spotless and pure as snow when freshly driven: A bright Aurora for the starry sphere Where all is love, and even life forgiven.

Bride of immortal beauty--ever dear!

Dost thou await me in thy blest abode?

While I, t.i.thonus-like, must linger here, And count each step along the rugged road; A phantom, tottering to a long-made grave, And eager to lay down my weary load!

I, who was fancy's lord, am fancy's slave.

Like the low murmurs of the Indian sh.e.l.l Ta'en from its coral bed beneath the wave, Which, unforgetful of the ocean's swell, Retains within its mystic urn the hum Heard in the sea-grots where the Nereids dwell-- Old thoughts still haunt me--unawares they come Between me and my rest, nor can I make Those aged visitors of sorrow dumb.

Oh, yet awhile, my feeble soul, awake!

Nor wander back with sullen steps again; For neither pleasant pastime canst thou take In such a journey, nor endure the pain.

The phantoms of the past are dead for thee; So let them ever uninvoked remain, And be thou calm, till death shall set thee free.

Thy flowers of hope expanded long ago, Long since their blossoms withered on the tree: No second spring can come to make them blow, But in the silent winter of the grave They lie with blighted love and buried woe.

I did not waste the gifts which nature gave, Nor slothful lay in the Circean bower; Nor did I yield myself the willing slave Of l.u.s.t for pride, for riches, or for power.

No! in my heart a n.o.bler spirit dwelt; For constant was my faith in manhood's dower; Man--made in G.o.d's own image--and I felt How of our own accord we courted shame, Until to idols like ourselves we knelt, And so renounced the great and glorious claim Of freedom, our immortal heritage.

I saw how bigotry, with spiteful aim, Smote at the searching eyesight of the sage, How error stole behind the steps of truth, And cast delusion on the sacred page.

So, as a champion, even in early youth I waged my battle with a purpose keen; Nor feared the hand of terror, nor the tooth Of serpent jealousy. And I have been With starry Galileo in his cell, That wise magician with the brow serene, Who fathomed s.p.a.ce; and I have seen him tell The wonders of the planetary sphere, And trace the ramparts of heaven's citadel On the cold flag-stones of his dungeon drear.

And I have walked with Hampden and with Vane-- Names once so gracious to an English ear-- In days that never may return again.

My voice, though not the loudest, hath been heard Whenever freedom raised her cry of pain, And the faint effort of the humble bard Hath roused up thousands from their lethargy, To speak in words of thunder. What reward Was mine, or theirs? It matters not; for I Am but a leaf cast on the whirling tide, Without a hope or wish, except to die.

But truth, a.s.serted once, must still abide, Unquenchable, as are those fiery springs Which day and night gush from the mountain-side, Perpetual meteors girt with lambent wings, Which the wild tempest tosses to and fro, But cannot conquer with the force it brings.

Yet I, who ever felt another's woe More keenly than my own untold distress; I, who have battled with the common foe, And broke for years the bread of bitterness; Who never yet abandoned or betrayed The trust vouchsafed me, nor have ceased to bless, Am left alone to wither in the shade, A weak old man, deserted by his kind-- Whom none will comfort in his age, nor aid!

Oh! let me not repine! A quiet mind, Conscious and upright, needs no other stay; Nor can I grieve for what I leave behind, In the rich promise of eternal day.

Henceforth to me the world is dead and gone, Its thorns unfelt, its roses cast away: And the old pilgrim, weary and alone, Bowed down with travel, at his Master's gate Now sits, his task of life-long labour done, Thankful for rest, although it comes so late, After sore journey through this world of sin, In hope, and prayer, and wistfulness to wait, Until the door shall ope, and let him in.

HERMOTIMUS

Hermotimus, the hero of this ballad, was a philosopher, or rather a prophet, of Clazomenae, who possessed the faculty, now claimed by the animal-magnetists, of effecting a voluntary separation between his soul and body; for the former could wander to any part of the universe, and even hold intercourse with supernatural beings, whilst the senseless frame remained at home. Hermotimus, however, was not insensible to the risk attendant upon this disunion; since, before attempting any of these aerial flights, he took the precaution to warn his wife, lest, ere the return of his soul, the body should be rendered an unfit or useless receptacle. This accident, which he so much dreaded, at length occurred; for the lady, wearied out by a succession of trances, each of longer duration than the preceding, one day committed his body to the flames, and thus effectually put a stop to such unconnubial conduct. He received divine honours at Clazomenae, but must nevertheless remain as a terrible example and warning to all husbands who carry their scientific or spiritual pursuits so far as to neglect their duty to their wives.

It is somewhat curious that Hermotimus is not the only person (putting the disciples of Mesmer and Dupotet altogether out of the question) who has possessed this miraculous power. Another and much later instance is recorded by Dr. George Cheyne, in his work ent.i.tled, _The English Malady, or a Treatise of Nervous Diseases_, as having come under his own observation; and, as this case is exactly similar to that of the Prophet, it may amuse the reader to see how far an ancient fable may be ill.u.s.trated, and in part explained, by the records of modern science.

Dr. Cheyne's patient was probably cataleptic; but the worthy physician must be allowed to tell his own story.

"Colonel Townshend, a gentleman of honour and integrity, had for many years been afflicted with a nephritic complaint. His illness increasing, and his strength decaying, he came from Bristol to Bath in a litter, in autumn, and lay at the Bell Inn. Dr. Baynard and I were called to him, and attended him twice a-day; but his vomitings continuing still incessant and obstinate against all remedies, we despaired of his recovery. While he was in this condition, he sent for us one morning; we waited on him with Mr. Skrine, his apothecary. We found his senses clear, and his mind calm: his nurse and several servants were about him.

He told us he had sent for us to give him an account of an odd sensation he had for some time observed and felt in himself; which was, that, by composing himself, _he could die or expire when he pleased_; and yet by an effort, or somehow, he could come to life again, which he had sometimes tried before he had sent for us. We heard this with surprise; but, as it was not to be accounted for upon common principles, we could hardly believe the fact as he related it, much less give any account of it; unless he should please to make the experiment before us, which we were unwilling he should do, lest, in his weak condition, he might carry it too far. He continued to talk very distinctly and sensibly above a quarter of an hour about this surprising sensation, and insisted so much on our seeing the trial made, that we were at last forced to comply. We all three felt his pulse first--it was distinct, though small and thready, and his heart had its usual beating. He composed himself on his back, and lay in a still posture for some time: while I held his right hand, Dr. Baynard laid his hand on his heart, and Mr. Skrine held a clean looking-gla.s.s to his mouth. I found his pulse sink gradually, till at last I could not find any by the most exact and nice touch. Dr.

Baynard could not feel the least motion in his heart, nor Mr. Skrine the least soil of breath on the bright mirror he held to his mouth; then each of us by turns examined his arm, heart, and breath, but could not, by the nicest scrutiny, discover the least symptom of life in him. We reasoned a long time about this odd appearance as well as we could, and all of us judging it inexplicable and unaccountable; and, finding he still continued in that condition, we began to conclude that he had indeed carried the experiment too far; and at last were satisfied he was actually dead, and were just ready to leave him. This continued about half an hour. As we were going away, we observed some motion about the body; and, upon examination, found his pulse and the motion of his heart gradually returning. He began to breathe gently and speak softly. We were all astonished to the last degree at this unexpected change; and, after some further conversation with him, and among ourselves, went away fully satisfied as to all the particulars of this fact, but confounded and puzzled, and not able to form any rational scheme that might account for it."

HERMOTIMUS