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POEMS.
Remember ye when I stood beneath
The Scottish poet's roof;
Where bright-eyed hope with drooping soul
Was lingering aloof?
The Scottish poet's roof;
Where bright-eyed hope with drooping soul
Was lingering aloof?
(Oh the shades of your bards bear ye witness that oft
More gallant my offspring be,
Born and nurtured in blasts of this life's fierce storms,
Than reared amid luxury.)
More gallant my offspring be,
Born and nurtured in blasts of this life's fierce storms,
Than reared amid luxury.)
'Twas for me to fling open the portal, closed
So long to fame's golden ray;
And note as my work the gathering gloom
In the sunlight pass away.
So long to fame's golden ray;
And note as my work the gathering gloom
In the sunlight pass away.
'Twas mine to bring forth the Peasant-bard,
In a changeless home to dwell;
In a nation's heart, where as years pass by,
They will cherish him right well!
In a changeless home to dwell;
In a nation's heart, where as years pass by,
They will cherish him right well!
Ay! and many a brow that was bent to earth,
Unknown, in your own fair land,
Has been raised and wreathed with the laurel-leaf,
Alone by this single hand!
Unknown, in your own fair land,
Has been raised and wreathed with the laurel-leaf,
Alone by this single hand!
