A deed that I would shrink from;-but to en dure, That is my destiny. May it be thine: When seas and continents shall lie between us- The wider we may find In such a course fit links of sympathy, An incommunicable rivalship Maintained, for peaceful ends beyond our view. [Confused voices. Several of the Band enter, rush upon OSWALD, and seize him. One of them. I would have dogged him to the jaws of hell Osw. Ha! is it so! That vagrant Hag! this comes Of having left a thing like her alive! [Aside. If I pass beneath a rock Osw. Bring down a heap of rubbish, and it crush me, I die without dishonor. Famished, starved, A Fool and Coward blended to my wish! [Smiles scornfully and exultingly at MARMADUKE. Wal. 'Tis done! (stabs him.) Another of the band. The ruthless traitor! Mar. A rash deed! With that reproof I do resign a station - Wil. (approaching MARMADUKE.) O my poor Master! Mar. Discerning Monitor, my faithful Wilfred, Why art thou here? [Turning to WALLACE. Wallace, upon these Borders, Many there be whose eyes will not want cause Few must they be, and delicate in their touch Who, through most wicked arts, was made an or phan By one who would have died a thousand times, Watch over her, I pray Captain! Several of the Band (eagerly). Mar. No more of that; in silence hear my doom; A hermitage has furnished fit relief To some offenders; other penitents, Less patient in their wretchedness, have fallen, No human dwelling ever give me food, A man by pain and thought compelled to live, 1795-6. POEMS REFERRING TO THE PERIOD OF CHILDHOOD. I. My heart leaps up when I behold So was it when my life began ; So be it when I shall grow old, The Child is father of the Man ; Bound each to each by natural piety. II. TO A BUTTERFLY. STAY near me; do not take thy flight! Much converse do I find in thee, Float near me; do not yet depart! 1804. Dead times revive in thee: Thou bring'st, gay creature as thou art! My father's family! Oh! pleasant, pleasant were the days, Together chased the butterfly! A very hunter did I rush Upon the prey:- with leaps and springs But she, God love her! feared to brush III. THE SPARROW'S NEST. BEHOLD, within the leafy shade, I started, seeming to espy - The home and sheltered bed, The Sparrow's dwelling, which, hard by My Father's house, in wet or dry, My sister Emmeline and I Together visited. 1801. |