Some barrier with which Nature, from the birth II. AT THE GRAVE OF BURNS. 1803. SEVEN YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH. I SHIVER, Spirit fierce and bold, Strike pleasure dead, So sadness comes from out the mould And have I then thy bones so near, And both my wishes and my fear Alike are vain. Off weight, nor press on weight! - away Dark thoughts! - they came, but not to stay; With chastened feelings would I pay The tribute due To him, and aught that hides his clay Fresh as the flower, whose modest worth For so it seems, Doth glorify its humble birth With matchless beams. The piercing eye, the thoughtful brow, The prompt, the brave, I mourned with thousands, but as one A Whose light I hailed when first it shone, How Verse may build a princely throne Alas! where'er the current tends, Regret pursues and with it blends, By Skiddaw seen, - True friends, though diversely inclined; The tear will start, and let it flow; At this dread moment Might we together even so Have sat and talked where gowans blow, Or on wild heather. What treasures would have then been placed Oh! spare to sweep, thou mournful blast, His grave grass-grown. There, too, a Son, his joy and pride, (Not three weeks past the Stripling died,) Lies gathered to his Father's side, Soul-moving sight! Yet one to which is not denied For he is safe, a quiet bed Wronged, or distrest; And surely here it may be said And oh! for Thee, by pitying grace May He who halloweth the place Sighing, I turned away; but ere A ritual hymn, Chanted in love that casts out fear III. THOUGHTS SUGGESTED THE DAY FOLLOWING, ON THE BANKS OF NITH, NEAR THE POET'S RESIDENCE. Too frail to keep the lofty vow That must have followed when his brow Was wreathed - "The Vision" tells us how With holly spray, He faltered, drifted to and fro, Well might such thoughts, dear Sister, throng Our minds when, lingering all too long, Over the grave of Burns we hung In social grief, Indulged as if it were a wrong To seek relief. But, leaving each unquiet theme Of good and fair, Let us beside this limpid Stream Enough of sorrow, wreck, and blight; |