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(FROM "THE LAY OF THE LAST MINSTREL").

Breathes there the man, with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,

This is my own, my native land!
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd,
As home his footsteps he hath turn'd,

From wandering on a foreign strand!
If such there breathe, go, mark him well;
For him no minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;
Despite those titles, power, and pelf,
The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down.
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonour'd, and unsung.

O Caledonia! stern and wild,
Meet nurse for a poetic child!

Land of brown heath and shaggy wood,
Land of the mountain and the flood,
Land of my sires! what mortal hand
Can e'er untie the filial band,

That knits me to thy rugged strand!
Still, as I view each well-known scene,
Think what is now, and what hath been,

Seems as, to me, of all bereft,

Sole friends thy woods and streams were left;
And thus I love them better still,

Even in extremity of ill.

HOEKZEMA, Poetry. 4th Ed.

8

THE BATTLE.

(FROM "MARMION").

From Flodden ridge

The Scots beheld the English host Leave Barmore-wood, their evening post, And heedful watch'd them as they cross'd The Till by Twisel Bridge.

High sight it is, and haughty, while

They dive into the deep defile;

Beneath the cavern'd cliff they fall,
Beneath the castle's airy wall.

By rock, by oak, by hawthorn-tree,
Troop after troop are disappearing;
Troop after troop their banners rearing,
Upon the eastern bank you see.
Still pouring down the rocky den,
Where flows the sullen Till,
And rising from the dim-wood glen,
Standards on standards, men on men,
In slow succession still,

And, sweeping o'er the Gothic arch,
And pressing on, in ceaseless march,
To gain the opposing hill.

That morn, to many a trumpet clang,
Twisel! thy rock's deep echo rang;
And many a chief of birth and rank,
Saint Helen! at thy fountain drank.
Thy hawthorn glade, which now we see
In spring-tide bloom so lavishly,
Had then from many an axe its doom,
To give the marching columns room.

And why stands Scotland idly now,
Dark Flodden! on thy airy brow,

Since England gains the pass the while,
And struggles through the deep defile?
What checks the fiery soul of James?
Why sits that champion of the dames
Inactive on his steed,

And sees, between him and his land,
Between him and Tweed's southern strand,
His host Lord Surrey lead?

What 'vails the vain knight-errant's brand?
O, Douglas, for thy leading wand!
Fierce Randolph, for thy speed!

O for one hour of Wallace wight,
Or well-skill'd Bruce, to rule the fight,
And cry
"Saint Andrew and our right!"
Another sight had seen that morn,
From Fate's dark book a leaf been torn,
And Flodden had been Bannockbourne!
The precious hour has pass'd in vain,
And England's host has gain'd the plain;
Wheeling their march, and circling still,
Around the base of Flodden hill.

Ere yet the bands met Marmion's eye,
Fitz-Eustace shouted loud and high,
"Hark! hark! my lord, an English drum!
And see ascending squadrons come

Between Tweed's river and the hill,
Foot, horse, and cannon:

My basnet to a prentice cap,

Lord Surrey's o'er the Till!

Yet more! yet more!

hap what hap,

-

how far array'd

They file from out the hawthorn shade,

And sweep so gallant by!

With all their banners bravely spread,

And all their armour flashing high, Saint George might waken from the dead, To see fair England's standards fly."

"Stint in thy prate," quoth Blount, "thou'dst best, And listen to our lord's behest."

With kindling brow Lord Marmion said,
"This instant be our band array'd;
The river must be quickly cross'd,
That we may join Lord Surrey's host.

If fight King James, as well I trust
That fight he will, and fight he must,
The Lady Clare behind our lines
Shall tarry, while the battle joins."

Himself he swift on horseback threw,
Scarce to the Abbot bade adieu;
Far less would listen to his prayer,
To leave behind the helpless Clare.
Down to the Tweed his band he drew,
And mutter'd, as the flood they view,
"The pheasant in the falcon's claw,
He scarce will yield to please a daw:
Lord Angus may the Abbot awe,

So Clare shall bide with me."

Then on that dangerous ford, and deep,
Where to the Tweed Leat's eddies creep,
He ventured desperately:

And not a moment will he bide,

Till squire, or groom, before him ride;
Headmost of all he stems the tide,

And stems it gallantly.

Eustace held Clare upon her horse,

Old Hubert led her rein,

Stoutly they braved the current's course,
And, though far downward driven per force,
The southern bank they gain;
Behind them straggling, came to shore,

As best they might, the train:
Each o'er his head his yew-bow bore,

A caution not in vain;

Deep need that day that every string,
By wet unharm'd, should sharply ring.
A moment then Lord Marmion staid,
And breathed his steed, his men array'd,
Then forward moved his band,
Until, Lord Surrey's rear-guard won,
He halted by a Cross of Stone,
That, on a hillock standing lone,

Did all the field command.

Hence might they see the full array
Of either host, for deadly fray;

Their marshall'd lines stretch'd east and west,
And fronted north and south,

And distant salutation pass'd

From the loud cannon mouth;
Not in the close successive rattle,

That breathes the voice of modern battle,
But slow and far between.

The hillock gain'd, Lord Marmion staid:
"Here, by this Cross," he gently said,
"You well may view the scene.
Here shalt thou tarry, lovely Clare:
O! think of Marmion in thy prayer!
Thou wilt not? well,

no less my care Shall, watchful, for thy weal prepare. You, Blount and Eustace, are her guard,

With ten pick'd archers of my train;

With England if the day go hard,

To Berwick speed amain.

--

But if we conquer, cruel maid,

My spoils shall at your feet be laid,
When here we meet again."

He waited not for answer there,

And would not mark the maid's despair,
Nor heed the discontented look

From either squire; but spurr'd amain,

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