The elements of feeling and of thought, Nor was this fellowship vouchsafed to me 'Twas mine among the fields both day and night, And by the waters all the summer long. And in the frosty season, when the sun Was set, and, visible for many a mile, The cottage windows through the twilight blazed, I heeded not the summons:-happy time It was indeed for all of us; for me It was a time of rapture!-Clear and loud The village clock tolled six-I wheeled about, That cares not for its home. All shod with steel We hissed along the polished ice, in games Confederate, imitative of the Chase And woodland pleasures,-the resounding horn, The leafless trees and every icy crag Of melancholy, not unnoticed, while the stars, Not seldom from the uproar I retired Glanced sideway, leaving the tumultuous throng, That gleamed upon the ice and oftentimes, And all the shadowy banks on either side Have I, reclining back upon my heels, Stopped short; yet still the solitary cliffs Wheeled by me-even as if the earth had rolled With visible motion her diurnal round! Behind me did they stretch in solemn train, Feebler and feebler, and I stood and watched Till all was tranquil as a summer sea. XVI. THE BLIND HIGHLAND BOY. (A Tale told by the Fire-side.) Now we are tired of boisterous joy, Jane hangs her head upon my breast, And you shall bring your stool and rest, There! take your seat, and let me see That you can listen quietly; And, as I promised, I will tell That strange adventure which befel A poor blind Highland Boy. A Highland Boy!-why call him so? He from his birth had liv'd. He ne'er had seen one earthly sight; Or fish in stream, or bird in bower, And yet he neither drooped nor pined, Nor had a melancholy mind; For God took pity on the Boy, And was his friend; and gave him joy His Mother, too, no doubt, above For, was she here, or was she there, She thought of him with constant care, And proud she was of heart, when clad To Kirk he on the sabbath day VOL. I. Went hand in hand with her. E |