Oh Nature! by impassioned hearts alone
Thy genuine charms are felt. The vulgar mind
Sees but the shadow of a power unknown;
Thy loftier beauties beam not to the blind
And sensual throng, to grovelling hopes resigned:
But they whom high and holy thoughts inspire
Adore thee, in celestial glory shrined
In that diviner fane where Love's pure fire
Burns bright, and Genius tunes his loud immortal Lyre!
The halcyon days at length draw to a close, and sorrows "in
battalions" compel them to emigrate and bid
Farewell to the scenes they ne'er shall visit more.
The remainder is rather abrupt, at least much more so than the lovers
of fervid poetry could wish, especially as the termination is with the
following exquisite ballad:--
Our native land, our native vale,
A long and last adieu!
Farewell to bonny Lynden-dale,
And Cheviot mountains blue.
Farewell, ye hills of glorious deeds,
And streams renowned in song:
Farewell, ye blithsome braes and meads
Our hearts have loved so long.
Farewell, ye broomy elfin knowes,
Where thyme and harebells grow;
Farewell, ye hoary haunted howes,
O'erhung with birk and sloe.
The battle-mound, the border-tower,
That Scotia's annals tell:
Thy martyr's grave, the lover's bower--
To each--to all--farewell!
Home of our hearts! our father's home!
Land of the brave and free!
The keel is flashing through the foam
That bears us far from thee.
We seek a wild and distant shore
Beyond the Atlantic main:
We leave thee to return no more,
Nor view thy cliffs again.
But may dishonour blight our fame,
And quench our household fires,
When we or ours forget thy name,
Green island of our sires.
Our native land--our native vale--
A long, a last adieu!
Farewell to bonny Lynden-dale,
And Scotland's mountains blue!
We have only space to add that the poetical pieces are very numerous,
and those by Allan Cunningham, the Ettrick Shepherd, Delta, and
William Kennedy, merit especial notice.
The elegant embossed binding is similar to that of last year, which
we mentioned to our readers, and which we think an improvement on the
silken array.
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