58
THE LADY OF THE LAKE.
CANTO II.
With such a look as hermits throw
When angels stoop to soothe their woe,
He gazed, till fond regret and pride
Thrilled to a tear, then thus replied:
"Loveliest and best! thou little know'st
The rank, the honours thou hast lost!
O might I live to see thee grace,
In Scotland's court, thy birth-right place,
To see my favourite's step advance,
The lightest in the courtly dance,
The cause of every gallant's sigh,
And leading star of every eye,
And theme of every minstrel's art,
The Lady of the Bleeding Heart!"[1]—
When angels stoop to soothe their woe,
He gazed, till fond regret and pride
Thrilled to a tear, then thus replied:
"Loveliest and best! thou little know'st
The rank, the honours thou hast lost!
O might I live to see thee grace,
In Scotland's court, thy birth-right place,
To see my favourite's step advance,
The lightest in the courtly dance,
The cause of every gallant's sigh,
And leading star of every eye,
And theme of every minstrel's art,
The Lady of the Bleeding Heart!"[1]—
XI.
"Fair dreams are these," the maiden cried,
(Light was her accent, yet she sighed,)
"Yet is this mossy rock to me
Worth splendid chair and canopy;
"Fair dreams are these," the maiden cried,
(Light was her accent, yet she sighed,)
"Yet is this mossy rock to me
Worth splendid chair and canopy;
- ↑ The well-known cognizance of the Douglas family.
