Rob Roy had never lingered here, To these few meagre Vales confined; But thought how wide the world, the times How fairly to his mind! And to his Sword he would have said, "Do Thou my sovereign will enact "From land to land through half the earth! "Judge thou of law and fact! ""Tis fit that we should do our part; "Becoming, that mankind should learn "That we are not to be surpassed "In fatherly concern, "Of old things all are over old, "Of good things none are good enough:"We'll shew that we can help to frame "A world of other stuff. "I, too, will have my Kings that take "From me the sign of life and death: "Kingdoms shall shift about, like clouds, And, if the word had been fulfilled, As might have been, then, thought of joy! Oh! say not so; compare them not; For Thou, although with some wild thoughts, Wild Chieftain of a Savage Clan! Hadst this to boast of; thou didst love The liberty of Man. And, had it been thy lot to live With us who now behold the light, Thou would'st have nobly stirred thyself, For thou wert still the poor Man's stay, Bear witness many a pensive sigh Of thoughtful Herdsman when he strays Alone upon Loch Veol's Heights, And by Loch Lomond's Braes! And, far and near, through vale and hill, Are faces that attest the same; And kindle, like a fire new stirr'd, At sound of ROB ROY's name. VOL. II. H IV. A POET'S EPITAPH. ART thou a Statesman, in the van A Lawyer art thou?-draw not nigh; Art thou a Man of purple cheer? Art thou a man of gallant pride, Physician art thou? One, all eyes, Wrapt closely in thy sensual fleece -A Moralist perchance appears; And He has neither eyes nor ears; Himself his world, and his own God; One to whose smooth-rubbed soul can cling Nor form, nor feeling, great nor small; A reasoning, self-sufficing thing, An intellectual All in All! |