Ye burnies, wimplin down your glens, Wi' toddlin din, Or foaming, ftrang, wi' hafty ftens, Frae lin to lin. Mourn little harebells o'er the lee; Ye ftately foxgloves fair to fee; Ye woodbines hanging bonnilie, In fcented bow'rs; Ye roses on your thorny tree, The firft o' flow'rs. At dawn, when ev'ry graffy blade Droops with a diamond at his head, At év'n, when beans their fragrance fhed, I' th' rustling gale, Ye maukins whiddin thro' the glade, Come join my wail. Mourn, Mourn, ye wee fongfters o' the wood; Ye whistling plover; And mourn, ye whirring paitrick brood; Mourn, footy coots, and speckled teals; Ye fisher herons, watching eels; Ye duck and drake, wi' airy wheels Circling the lake; Ye bitterns, till the quagmire reels, Rair for his fake. Mourn, clam'ring craiks at clofe o day,' 'Mang fields o' flow'ring clover gay; And when ye wing your annual way Frae our cauld fhore, Tell thae far warlds, wha lies in clay, Wham we deplore. Ye Ye houlets, frae your ivy bow'r, In fome auld tree, or eldritch tow'r, What time the moon, wi' filent glowr, Sets up her horn, Wail thro' the dreary midnight hour Till waukrife morn! O, rivers, forrests, hills, and plains! Oft have ye heard my canty ftrains: But now, what else for me remains Thou, Simmer, while each corny spear Shoots up its head, Thy gay, green, flow'ry treffes fhear, For him that's dead! Thou, Autumn, wi' thy yellow hair, In grief thy fallow mantle tear! Thou, Winter, hurling thro' the air The roaring blast, Wide o'er the naked world declare The worth we've loft! Mourn him thou Sun, great fource of light! Mourn, Empress of the filent night! And you, ye twinkling ftarnies bright, My Matthew mourn! For through your orbs he's taen his flight, Ne'er to return. 0, O, H********! the man! the brother! And art thou gone, and gone for ever! And haft thou croft that unknown river, ...... Life's dreary bound! Like thee, where fhall I find another, The world around! T Go to your sculptur'd tombs, ye Great, In a' the tinfel trash o' ftate! But by thy honeft turf I'll wait, Thou man of worth! And weep the ae beft fellow's fate E'er lay in earth. THE EPITAPH. STOP, paffenger! my ftory's brief, I tell nae common tale o' grief. |