Far up the lake 'twere safest land,

Himself would row him to the strand.
He gave his counsel to the wind,
While Malcolm did, unheeding, bind,

Round dirk and pouch and broadsword roll'd,
His ample plaid in tighten'd fold,

And stripp'd his limbs to such array,
As best might suit the watery way,—

XXXVII.

Then spoke abrupt: “Farewell to thee,
Pattern of old fidelity!"

The Minstrel's hand he kindly press'd.
"O! could I point a place of rest!
My sovereign holds in ward my land,
My uncle leads my vassal band;
To tame his foes his friends to aid,
Poor Malcolm has but heart and blade.
Yet, if there be one faithful Græme,
Who loves the Chieftain of his name,
Not long shall honored Douglas dwell
Like hunted stag in mountain cell;
Nor, ere yon pride-swoll'n robber dare,
I may not give the rest to air!

Tell Roderick Dhu I owed him naught,
Not the poor service of a boat,

otherwise it is more than probable he might have suffered death from the hand of that little vermin. But it is very disagreeable to an Englishman over a bottle with the Highlanders, to see every one ef them have his gilly, that is, his servant standing behind him, all the while, let what will be the subject of conversation." - Letters from Scotland, ii. 159.

To waft me to yon mountain-side."
Then plunged he in the flashing tide.1
Bold o'er the flood his head he bore,
And stoutly steer'd him from the shore;
And Allan strain'd his anxious eye,
Far 'mid the lake his form to spy,
Darkening across each puny wave,
To which the moon her silver gave.
Fast as the cormorant could skim,
The swimmer plied each active limb;
Then landing in the moonlight dell,
Loud shouted of his weal to tell.
The minstrel heard the far halloo,
And joyful from the shore withdrew.

1 MS.: "He spoke, and plunged into the tide."

CANTO THIRD.

The Gathering.

I.

TIME rolls his ceaseless course.

The race of yore,1

Who danced our infancy upon their knee, And told our marvelling boyhood legends store, Of their strange ventures happ'd by land or sea, How are they blotted from the things that be! How few, all weak and wither'd of their force, Wait on the verge of dark eternity,

Like stranded wrecks, the tide returning hoarse, To sweep them from our sight! Time rolls his ceaseless course.

Yet live there still who can remember well,
How, when a mountain chief his bugle blew,
Both field and forest, dingle, cliff, and dell,
And solitary heath, the signal knew;

1 "There are no separate introductions to the cantos of this poem; but each of them begins with one or two stanzas in the measure of Spenser, usually containing some reflections connected with the subject about to be entered on; and written, for the most part, with great tenderness and beauty. The following, we think, is among the most striking." - JEFFREY.

97

And fast the faithful clan around him drew,

What time the warning note was keenly wound, What time aloft their kindred banner flew,

While clamorous war-pipes yell'd the gathering sound,

And while the Fiery Cross glanced, like a meteor, round.1

II.

The summer dawn's reflected hue
To purple changed Loch Katrine blue;
Mildly and soft the western breeze
Just kiss'd the lake, just stirr'd the trees,
And the pleased lake, like maiden coy,
Trembled but dimpled not for joy;
The mountain-shadows on her breast
Were neither broken nor at rest;
In bright uncertainty they lie,
Like future joys to Fancy's eye.
The water-lily to the light
Her chalice rear'd of silver bright;
The doe awoke, and to the lawn,
Begemm'd with dew-drops, led her fawn;
The gray mist left 2 the mountain-side,
The torrent show'd its glistening pride;

1 See Appendix, Note F.

2 MS.: "The doe awoke, and to the lawn

.

Begemm'd with dewdrops, led her fawn,
Invisible in fleecy cloud,

The lark sent down her matins loud;

The light mist left," etc.

1

Invisible in flecked sky,

The lark sent down her revelry;

The blackbird and the speckled thrush
Good-morrow gave from brake and bush;
In answer coo'd the cushat dove

Her notes of peace, and rest, and love.

III.

No thought of peace, no thought of rest,
Assuaged the storm in Roderick's breast.
With sheathed broadsword in his hand,
Abrupt he paced the islet strand,
And eyed the rising sun, and laid
His hand on his impatient blade.
Beneath a rock, his vassals' care 2
Was prompt the ritual to prepare,
With deep and deathful meaning fraught;
For such Antiquity had taught

Was preface meet, ere yet abroad

The Cross of Fire should take its road.
The shrinking band stood oft aghast
At the impatient glance he cast;·
Such glance the mountain eagle threw,
As, from the cliffs of Benvenue,
She spread her dark sails on the wind,
And, high in middle heaven reclined,

"The green hills

Are clothed with early blossoms; through the grass

The quick-eyed lizard rustles, and the bills

1

Of summer birds sing welcome as ye pass." — Childe Harold.

2 MS.: "Hard by, his vassals' early care

The mystic ritual prepare."