Race of the Forest Albyn's first,
Is yon lone mound your grave?
Did the dark Druid's mystic spell
Open earth's secret cave?
Or, rests the haughty Roman here,
Who left his home and hearth,
To win—O madness of mankind!—
A grave in foreign earth?
Or, was the fair-haired Saxon taught
The Victor hath his doom?
Or, lie here piled the Dane's fierce ranks:—
Who of them fill this tomb?
Yet these, so utterly forget[1],
Were heroes in their day;
And, like all heroes, thought their name
Would never pass away.
Each had their creed of faith and fame;
Priest's word or Minstrel's strain
Promised them immortality—
And promised it in vain.
Here may have been shed man's best blood,
There woman's bitterest tear;
Yet, of it all what now remains?—
One question—Who sleeps here?
L. E. L.
- ↑ forgot(?)
