The Modern Scottish Minstrel Volume V Part 25

OH, SOFTLY SIGHS THE WESTLIN' BREEZE.

Oh, softly sighs the westlin' breeze Through floweries pearl'd wi' dew; An' brightly lemes the gowden sky, That skirts the mountain blue.

An' sweet the birken trees amang, Swells many a blithesome lay; An' loud the bratlin burnie's voice Comes soundin' up the brae.

But, ah! nae mair the sweets o' spring Can glad my wearied e'e; Nae mair the summer's op'ning bloom Gies ought o' joy to me.

Dark, dark to me the pearly flowers, An' sad the mavis sang, An' little heart hae I to roam These leafy groves amang.

She 's gane! she 's gane! the loveliest maid!

An' wae o'erpress'd I pine; The gra.s.s waves o'er my Myra's grave!

Ah! ance I ca'd her mine.

What ither choice does fate afford, Than just to mourn and dee, Sin' gane the star that cheer'd my sky, The beam that bless'd my e'e?

At gloamin' hour alang the burn, Alane she lo'ed to stray, To pu' the rose o' crimson bloom, An' haw-flower purple gray.

Their siller leaves the willows waved As pa.s.s'd that maiden by; An' sweeter burst the burdies' sang Frae poplar straight an' high.

Fu' aften have I watch'd at e'en These birken trees amang, To bless the bonnie face that turn'd To where the mavis sang; An' aft I 've cross'd that gra.s.sy path, To catch my Myra's e'e; Oh, soon this winding dell became A blissful haunt to me.

Nae mair a wasting form within, A wretched heart I bore; Nae mair unkent, unloved, and lone, The warl' I wander'd o'er.

Not then like now my life was wae, Not then this heart repined, Nor aught of coming ill I thought, Nor sigh'd to look behind.

Cheer'd by gay hope's enliv'ning ray, An' warm'd wi' minstrel fire, Th' expected meed that maiden's smile, I strung my rustic lyre.

That lyre a pitying Muse had given To me, for, wrought wi' toil, She bade, wi' its simple tones, The weary hours beguile.

Lang had it been my secret pride, Though nane its strains might hear; For ne'er till then trembled its chords To woo a list'ning ear.

The forest echoes to its voice Fu' sad, had aft complain'd, Whan, mingling wi' its wayward strain, Murmur'd the midnight wind.

Harsh were its tones, yet Myra praised The wild and artless strain; In pride I strung my lyre anew, An' waked its chords again.

The sound was sad, the sparkling tear Arose in Myra's e'e, An' mair I lo'ed that artless drap, Than a' the warl' could gie.

To wean the heart frae warldly grief, Frae warldly moil an' care, Could maiden smile a lovelier smile, Or drap a tend'rer tear?

But now she 's gane,--dark, dark an' drear, Her lang, lang sleep maun be; But, ah! mair drear the years o' life That still remain to me!

Whan o'er the raging ocean wave The gloom o' night is spread, If lemes the twinkling beacon-light, The sailor's heart is glad; In hope he steers, but, 'mid the storm, If sinks the waning ray, Dees a' that hope, an' fails his saul, O'erpress'd wi' loads o' wae.

ALEXANDER MACANSH.

The author of "The Social Curse, and other Poems," Alexander Macansh, was born at Dunfermline in 1803. At the age of eleven apprenticed to a flaxdresser, he followed this occupation during a period of thirty-eight years, of which the greater portion was spent in Harribrae factory, in his native town. During the intervals of his occupation, which demanded his attention about fourteen hours daily, he contrived to become familiar with British and continental authors, and with the more esteemed Latin cla.s.sics. He likewise formed an intimate acquaintance with mathematical science. Of decided poetical tastes, he contributed verses to _Tait's Magazine_, the _Edinburgh Literary Journal_, and the _Scotsman_ newspaper. In 1850, he published, by subscription, his volume of poems, ent.i.tled "The Social Curse, and other Poems," which has secured him a local reputation. Continuing to reside in Dunfermline, he has, for several years, possessed a literary connexion with some of the provincial newspapers, and has delivered lectures on science to the district inst.i.tutions. To Mr Joseph Paton, of Dunfermline, so well known for his antiquarian pursuits, he has been indebted for generous support and kindly encouragement. Mr Macansh labours under severe physical debility.

THE MOTHER AND CHILD.

The mother, with her blooming child, Sat by the river pool, Deep in whose waters lay the sky, So stilly beautiful.

She held her babe aloft, to see Its infant image look Up joyous, laughing, leaping from The bosom of the brook.

And as it gazed upon the stream, The wondering infant smiled, And stretched its little hands, and tried To clasp the shadow'd child, Which, in that silent underwold, With eager gesture strove To meet it with a brother-kiss, A brother-clasp of love.

Laugh on, laugh on, my happy child, ('Twas thus the mother sung;) The shrew, Experience, has not yet With envious gesture flung Aside the enchanted veil which hides Life's pale and dreary look; An angel lurks in every stream, A heaven in every brook.

Laugh on, laugh on, my happy child, Ere drop the tears of woe Upon that mirror, scattering all Those glorious shapes, and show A fleeting shadow, which thou think'st An angel, breathing, living-- A shallow pebbly brook which thou Hast fondly deem'd a heaven.

CHANGE.

Change! change! the mournful story Of all that 's been before; The wrecks of perish'd glory Bestrewing every sh.o.r.e: The shatter'd tower and palace, In every vale and glen, In broken language tell us Of the fleeting power of men.

Change! change! the plough is sweeping O'er some scene of household mirth, The sickle hand is reaping O'er some ancient rural hearth-- Where the mother and the daughter In the evenings used to spin, And where little feet went patter, Full often out and in.

Change! change! for all things human, Thrones, powers of amplest wing, Have their flight, and fall in common With the meanest mortal thing-- With beauty, love, and pa.s.sion, With all of earthly trust, With life's tiniest wavelet das.h.i.+ng, Curling, breaking into dust.

Where arose in marble grandeur The wall'd cities of the past, The sullen winds now wander O'er a ruin-mounded waste.

Low lies each lofty column; The owl in silence wings O'er floors, where, slow and solemn, Paced the sandal'd feet of kings.

Still change! Go thou and view it, All desolately sunk, The circle of the Druid, The cloister of the monk; The abbey boled and squalid, With its bush-maned, staggering wall; Ask by whom these were unhallow'd-- Change, change hath done it all.

THE TOMB OF THE BRUCE.

Yon old temple pile, where the moon dimly flashes O'er gray roof, tall window, sloped b.u.t.tress, and base, O'erarches the ashes, the now silent ashes, Of the n.o.blest, the bravest, of Scotia's race.

How hallow'd yon spot where a hero is lying, Embalm'd in the holiness wors.h.i.+p bedews, The lamb watching over the sleep of the lion, Religion enthroned on the tomb of the Bruce!

Far other and fiercer the moments that crown'd him, Than those that now creep o'er yon old temple pile, And sterner the music that storm'd around him, Than the anthem that peals through the long-sounding aisle, When his bugle's fierce tones with the war-hum was blending, And, with claymores engirdled, and banners all loose, His rough-footed warriors, to battle descending, Peal'd up to the heavens the war-cry of Bruce.

I hear him again, with deep voice proclaiming-- Let our country be free, or with freedom expire; I see him again, with his great sword o'erflaming The plume-nodding field, like a banner of fire.

Still onward it blazes, that red constellation, In its pa.s.sage no pause, to its flas.h.i.+ng no truce: Oh, the pillar of glory that led forth our nation From shackles and chains, was the sword of the Bruce.

But now he is sleeping in darkness; the thunder Of battle to him is now silent and o'er, And the sword, that, like threads, sever'd shackles asunder, Shall gleam in the vanguard of Scotland no more.

Yet, oh, though his banner for ever be furled, Though his great sword be rusted and red with disuse, Can freemen, when tyrants would handcuff the world-- Can freemen be mute at the Tomb of the Bruce?

JAMES PRINGLE.

James Pringle was born in the parish of Collessie, Fifes.h.i.+re, on the 11th December 1803. At the parochial school of Kettle having received an ordinary education, he was in his seventeenth year apprenticed to a mill-wright. For many years he has prosecuted this occupation in the district of his nativity. His present residence is in the Den of Lindores, in the parish of Abdie. From his youth he has cherished an enthusiastic love of poetry, and composed verses. In 1853, he published a duodecimo volume, ent.i.tled "Poems and Songs on Various Subjects."