CANTO FIRST. The Chase. HARP of the NORTH! that mouldering long hast hung On the witch-elm that shades Saint Fillan's spring, And down the fitful breeze thy numbers flung,1 Till envious ivy did around thee cling, Muffling with verdant ringlet every string,— O minstrel Harp, still must thine accents sleep? Mid rustling leaves and fountains murmuring, Still must thy sweeter sounds their silence keep, Nor bid a warrior smile, nor teach a maid to weep? Not thus, in ancient days of Caledon, Was thy voice mute amid the festal crowd, When lay of hopeless love, or glory won, Aroused the fearful, or subdued the proud. At each according pause was heard aloud 2 1 MS.- And on the fitful breeze thy numbers flung, Till envious ivy, with her verdant ring, Mantled and muffled each melodious string, - Thine ardent symphony sublime and high! Fair dames and crested chiefs attention bow'd, For still the burden of thy minstrelsy Was Knighthood's dauntless deed, and Beauty's matchless eye. O wake once more! how rude so'er the hand Yet if one heart throb higher at its sway, The wizard note has not been touched in vain. Then silent be no more! Enchantress, wake again! I. The stag at eve had drunk his fill, Where danced the moon on Monan's rill. And deep his midnight lair had made 1 In lone Glenartney's hazel shade ; 1 1 In latter times this cave was the refuge of robbers and banditti, who have been only extirpated within these forty or fifty years. Strictly speaking, this stronghold is not a cave, as the name would imply, but a sort of small enclosure, or recess, surrounded with large rocks, and open above head. It may have been originally designed as a toil for deer, who might get in from the outside, but would find it difficult to return. This opinion prevails among the old sportsmen and deer-stalkers in the neighborhood. But, when the sun his beacon red The deep-mouth'd bloodhound's heavy bay And faint, from farther distance borne, II. As Chief, who hears his warder call, The dew-drops from his flanks he shook; That thicken'd as the chase drew nigh; III. Yell'd on the view the opening pack; 1 MS." The bloodhound's notes of heavy bass Resounded hoarsely up the pass. To many a mingled sound at once Their peal the merry horns rung out, IV. Less loud the sounds of sylvan war For ere that deep ascent was won, 1 Benvoirlich, a mountain comprehended in the cluster of the Grampians at the head of the valley of the Garry, a river which springs from its base. It rises to an elevation of 3330 feet above the level of the sea. |