75
DIRGE OF THE HIGHLAND CHIEF
IN "WAVERLY."
SON of the mighty and the free!
High-minded leader of the brave!
Was it for lofty chief like thee,
To fill a nameless grave?
Oh! if, amidst the valiant slain,
The warrior's bier had been thy lot,
E'en though on red Culloden's plain,
We then had mourned thee not.
But darkly closed thy dawn of fame,
That dawn whose sunbeam rose so fair;
Vengeance alone may breathe thy name,
The watchword of Despair!
Yet oh! if gallant spirit's power
Hath e'er ennobled death like thine,
Then glory marked thy parting hour,
Last of a mighty line!
O'er thy own towers the sunshine falls,
But cannot chase their silent gloom;
