ON READING IN A NEWSPAPER

THE DEATH OF JOHN M'LEOD, ESQ.,

BROTHER TO A YOUNG LADY, A PARTICULAR FRIEND OF THE AUTHOR'S.

SAD thy tale, thou idle page,

And rueful thy alarms:

Death tears the brother of her love
From Isabella's arms.

Sweetly deckt with pearly dew
The morning rose may blow;
But cold successive noontide blasts
May lay its beauties low.

Fair on Isabella's morn

The sun propitious smil'd;

But, long ere noon, succeeding clouds
Succeeding hopes beguil'd.

Fate oft tears the bosom chords
That Nature finest strung:

So Isabella's heart was form'd,
And so that heart was wrung.

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Dread Omnipotence alone

Can heal the wound He gave;

Can point the brimful grief-worn eyes
To scenes beyond the grave.

Virtue's blossoms there shall blow,
And fear no withering blast;

There Isabella's spotless worth
Shall happy be at last.

20

ON THE BIRTH OF A POSTHUMOUS CHILD,

BORN IN PECULIAR CIRCUMSTANCES OF FAMILY DISTRESS.

SWEET flow'ret, pledge o' meikle love,
And ward o' mony a prayer,
What heart o' stane wad thou na move,
Sae hapless, sweet, and fair?

November hirples o'er the lea,
Chill, on thy lovely form;
And gane, alas! the shelt'ring tree,
Should shield thee frae the storm.

May He who gives the rain to pour,
And wings the blast to blaw,
Protect thee frae the driving show'r,
The bitter frost and snaw.

May He, the friend of woe and want,
Who heals life's various stounds,
Protect and guard the mother plant,
And heal her cruel wounds.

But late she flourish'd, rooted fast,
Fair in the summer morn:
Now feebly bends she in the blast,
Unshelter'd and forlorn.

Blest be thy bloom, thou lovely gem,
Unscath'd by ruffian hand!

And from thee many a parent stem
Arise to deck our land.

ΙΟ

20

EPITAPH ON THE POET'S DAUGHTER.

HERE lies a rose, a budding rose,
Blasted before its bloom;

Whose innocence did sweets disclose
Beyond that flower's perfume.

To those who for her loss are grieved,
This consolation's given-

She's from a world of woe relieved,
And blooms a rose in heaven.

VERSES

WRITTEN UNDER VIOLENT GRIEF.

ACCEPT the gift a friend sincere

Wad on thy worth be pressin';
Remembrance oft may start a tear,
But oh! that tenderness forbear,

Though 'twad my sorrows lessen.

My morning raise sae clear and fair,
I thought sair storms wad never
Bedew the scene; but grief and care
In wildest fury hae made bare

My peace, my hope, for ever!

You think I'm glad; oh, I

pay weel

For a' the joy I borrow,
In solitude-then, then I feel
I canna to mysel' conceal

My deeply-ranklin' sorrow.

Farewell! within thy bosom free
A sigh may whiles awaken;
A tear may wet thy laughin' ee,
For Scotia's son-ance gay like thee-
Now hopeless, comfortless, forsaken!

TO A LADY,

WITH A PRESENT OF A PAIR OF DRINKING GLASSES.

FAIR Empress of the Poet's soul,
And Queen of Poetesses;
Clarinda, take this little boon,
This humble pair of glasses.

And fill them high with generous juice,
As generous as your mind;

And pledge me in the generous toast--
'The whole of human kind!'

'To those who love us!'-second fill;
But not to those whom we love;
Lest we love those who love not us!
A third-To thee and me, Love!'

TO MISS FERRIER,

ENCLOSING THE ELEGY ON SIR J. H. BLAIR.

NAE heathen name shall I prefix
Frae Pindus or Parnassus;

Auld Reekie dings them a' to sticks,

For rhyme-inspiring lasses.

Jove's tunefu' dochters three times three
Made Homer deep their debtor;

But, gi'en the body half an ee,
Nine Ferriers wad done better!

Last day my mind was in a bog,
Down George's Street I stoited;

A creeping cauld prosaic fog
My very senses doited.

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ΙΟ

Do what I dought to set her free,
My saul lay in the mire;

Ye turned a neuk-I saw your ee--
She took the wing like fire!

The mournfu' sang I here enclose,
In gratitude I send you;

And wish and pray in rhyme and prose,

A' gude things may attend you!

WRITTEN ON THE BLANK LEAF

OF A COPY OF THE FIRST EDITION OF HIS POEMS,
PRESENTED TO AN OLD SWEETHEART, THEN MARRIED.

ONCE fondly lov'd, and still remember'd dear,
Sweet early object of my youthful vows,
Accept this mark of friendship warm, sincere ;
Friendship! 'tis all cold duty now allows.

And when you read the simple artless rhymes.
One friendly sigh for him-he asks no more,
Who distant burns in flaming torrid climes.
Or haply lies beneath th' Atlantic roar.

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INSCRIPTION FOR AN ALTAR TO INDEPENDENCE,

AT KERROUGHTRY, SEAT OF MR. HERON,

WRITTEN IN SUMMER, 1795.

THOU of an independent mind,

With soul resolv'd, with soul resign'd;
Prepar'd Power's proudest frown to brave,
Who wilt not be, nor have a slave;

Virtue alone who dost revere,

Thy own reproach alone dost fear,

Approach this shrine, and worship here.