A deed that I would shrink from; — bu to en

dure,

That is my destiny. May it be thine:
Thy office, thy ambition, be henceforth
To feed remorse, to welcome every sting
Of penitential anguish, yea, with tears.

When seas and continents shall lie between us—
The wider space the better

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!
Several voices. Despatch him!

Osw.

[Aside.

If I pass beneath a rock

And shout, and, with the echo of my voice,

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
Of which I have been proud.

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 To weep that I am gone. Brothers in arms Raise on that dreary Waste a monument That record may my story: nor let words Few must they be, and delicate in their touch As light itself— be there withheld from her Who, through most wicked arts, was made an orphan

By one who would have died a thousand times,
To shield her from a moment's harm.
To you,
Wallace and Wilfred, I commend the lady,
By lowly nature reared, as if to make her
In all things worthier of that noble birth,
Whose long suspended rights are now on the eve
Of restoration with your tenderest care

Watch over her, I pray · sustain her

Several of the Band (eagerly).

Captain.

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,
Like the old Roman, on their own sword's point.
They had their choice: a wanderer must I go,
The spectre of that innocent man my guide.
No human ear shall ever hear me speak;

No human dwelling ever give me food,
Or sleep, or rest: but, over waste and wild,
In search of nothing, that this earth can give,
But expiation, will I wander on-

A man by pain and thought compelled to live,
Yet loathing life— till anger is appeased
In Heaven, and Mercy gives me leave to die.

1795-8

POEMS REFERRING TO THE PERIOD

OF CHILDHOOD.

I.

My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky :

So was it when my life began ;
So is it now I am a man;

So be it when I shall grow old,

Or let me die !

The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be

Bound each to each by natural piety.

II.

TO A BUTTERFLY.

STAY near me; do not take thy flight!
A little longer stay in sight!

Much converse do I find in thee,
Historian of my infancy!

Float near me; do not yet depart!

1804

Dead times revive in thee:

Thou bring'st, gay creature as thou art!
A solemn image to my heart,

My father's family!

Oh! pleasant, pleasant were the days,
The time, when, in our childish plays,
My sister Emmeline and I

Together chased the butterfly!

A

very hunter did I rush

Upon the prey-with leaps and springs
I followed on from brake to bush ;

But she, God love her! feared to brush
The dust from off its wings.

III.

THE SPARROW'S NEST.

BEHOLD, within the leafy shade,
Those bright blue eggs together laid!
On me the chance-discovered sight
Gleamed like a vision of delight.
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