III.

At length his lonely cot appears in view, Beneath the shelter of an aged tree; Th' expectant wee things, toddlin, stacher thro' [an' glee. To meet their Dad, wi' flichterin' noise flis wee bit ingle, blinkin' bonnily,

His clean hearth-stane, his thriftie wifie's smile,

The lisping infant prattling on his knee, Does a' his weary carking cares beguile, And makes him quite forget his labour an' his toil.

IV.

Belyve the elder bairns come drapping in,
At service out, amang the farmers roun',
Some ca' the pleugh, some herd, some tentie
rin

A cannie errand to a neebor town; Their eldest hope, their Jenny, woman grown,

In youthfu' bloom, love sparklin' in her e'e, Comes hame, perhaps, to show a bra' new

gown,

Or deposit her sair-won penny-fee,

VIII.

Wi' kindly welcome Jenny brings him ben ; A strappin youth; he taks the mother's eye; Blithe Jenny sees the visit's no ill ta'en; The father cracks of horses, pleughs, and kye. [joy,

The youngster's artless heart o'erflows wi But blate and laithfu', scarce can weel behave;

The mother, wi' a woman's wiles, can spy What makes the youth sae bashfu' an' sae grave;

Weel pleas'd to think her bairn's respected like the lave.

IX.

O happy love! where love like this is found! O heart-felt raptures bliss beyond compare!

I've paced much this weary mortal round,

And sage experience bids me this declareIf Heav'n a draught of heavenly pleasure spare,

One cordial in this melancholy vale, 'Tis when a youthful, loving, modest pair,

In other's arms breathe out the tender tale,

V.

Wi' joy unfeign'd brothers and sisters meet,

An' each for other's weelfare kindly spiers: The social hours, swift-wing'd, unnotic'd fleet;

Each tells the uncos that he sees or hears;
The parents, partial, eye their hopeful years;
Anticipation forward points the view.
The mother, wi' her needle an' her shears,
Gars auld claes look amaist as weel's the
new;

The father mixes a' wi' admonition due.

VI.

Their master's an' their mistress's command, The younkers a' are warned to obey; And mind their labours wi' an eyedent hand, And ne'er, tho' out o' sight, to jauk or play : An' O! be sure to fear the LORD alway! An' mind your duty, duly, morn an' night! Lest in temptation's path ye gang astray, Implore his counsel and assisting might: They never sought in vain that sought the Lord aright!'

VII.

But hark! a rap comes gently to the door; Jenny, wha kens the meaning o' the same, | Tells how a neebor lad cam o'er the moor,

To do some errands, and convoy her hame. The wily mother sees the conscious flame

Sparkle in Jenny's e'e, and flush her cheek; Wi' heart-struck anxious care, inquires his

name,

While Jenny hafflins is afraid to speak; Weel pleas'd the mother hears it's nae wild, worthless rake.

ev'ning gale.'

He wales a portion with judicious care; And Let us worship Gor! he says, with solemn air.

XIII.

They chant their artless notes in simple guise; They tune their hearts, by far the noblest

aim:

[rise; Perhaps Dundee's wild warbling measures Or plaintive Martyrs, worthy of the name; Or noble Elgin beets the heav'n-ward flame, The sweetest far of Scotia's holy lays : Compared with these, Italian trills are tame;

The tickl'd ears no heart-felt raptures raise; Nae unison hae they with our Creator's praise. XIV.

The priest-like father reads the sacred page, How Abram was the friend of GOD on high; Or, Moses bade eternal warfare wage

With Amalek's ungracious progeny ; Or how the royal bard did groaning lie [ire; Beneath the stroke of Heav'n's avenging Or, Job's pathetic plaint, and wailing cry; Or rapt Isaiah's wild, seraphic fire; Or other holy seers that tune the sacred lyre.

XV.

Perhaps the Christian volume is the theme, How guiltless blood for guilty man was shed; [name, How He, who bore in Heaven the second Had not on earth whereon to lay his head; How his first followers and servants sped;

The precepts sage they wrote to many a How he, who lone in Patmos banished, [land: Saw in the sun a mighty angel stand; And heard great Bab'lon's doom pronounced by Heaven's command.

XVI

Then kneeling down to HEAVEN'S ETERNAL KING,

[prays : The saint, the father, and the husband Hope 'springs exalting on triumphant wing, That thus they all shall meet in future There ever bask in uncreated rays, [days: No more to sigh or shed the bitter tear, Together hymning their Creator's praise,

In such society, yet still more dear; While circling time moves round in an eternal sphere.

XVII.

Compared with this, how poor Religion's pride, In all the pomp of method, and of art,

When men display to congregations wide,

The Pow'r, incensed, the pageant will desert, The pompous strain, the sacerdotal stole ; But haply, in some cottage far apart,

May hear, well-pleased, the language of the soul;

And in his book of life the inmates poor enrol.

• Pope's Windsor Forest.

A DIRGE.

I.

WHEN chill November's surly blast
Made fields and forests bare,
One ev'ning, as I wander'd forth
Along the banks of Ayr,

O Thou, great Governor of all below!

If I may dare a lifted eye to Thee,

When for this scene of peace and ove, I make my prayer sincere.

II.

The hoary sire-the mortal stroke,
Long, long be pleased to spare,
To bless his little filial flock,
And show what good men are.

III.

She, who her lovely offspring eyes
With tender hopes and fears,
O bless her with a mother's joys,
But spare a mother's tears!

IV.

Their hope, their stay, their darling youth,
In manhood's dawning blush;
Bless him, thou God of love and truth,
Up to a parent's wish!

V.

The beauteous, seraph sister-band,
With earnest tears I pray,
Thou know'st the snares on ev'ry hand,
Guide thou their steps alway!

vi.

When soon or late they reach that coast,
O'er life's rough ocean driv'n,
May they rejoice, no wand'rer lost,
A family in Heav'n!

THE FIRST PSALM.

THE man, in life wherever placed, Hath happiness in store,

blow,

Or still the tumult of the raging sea; With that controlling pow'r assist ev'n me, Those headlong furious passions to confine;

For all unfit I feel my pow'rs to be,

To rule their torrent in th' allowed line! O aid me with thy help, Omnipotence Divine!

LYING AT A REVEREND friend's HOUSE ONE NIGHT, THE AUTHOR LEFT THE FOLLOWING

VERSES,

IN THE ROOM WHERE HE SLept.

I.

O THOU dread Pow'r, who reign'st above, I know thou wilt me hear,

Nor learns their guilty lore!

Nor from the seat of scornful pride
Casts forth his eyes abroad,
But with humility and awe

Still walks before his GOD.

That man shall flourish like the trees Which by the streamlets grow; The fruitful top is spread on high, And firm the root below.

But he whose blossom buds in guilt
Shall to the ground be cast,
And, like the rootless stubble, tost
Before the sweeping blast.

For why? that God the good adore Hath giv'n them peace and rest, But hath decreed that wicked men Shall ne'er be truly blest.

A PRAYER,

DER THE PRESSURE OF VIOLENT ANGUISH.

THOU Great Being! what thou art Surpasses me to know:

t sure am I, that known to thee Are all thy works below.

Thy creature here before thee stands,

All wretched and distrest;

Yet sure those ills that wring my soul Obey thy high behest.

Sure thou, Almighty, canst not act
From cruelty or wrath!
O, free my weary eyes from tears,
Or close them fast in death!

But if I must afflicted be,

To suit some wise design;

Then man my soul with firm resolves, To bear and not repine.

THE FIRST SIX VERSES OF

THE NINETIETH PSALM.

O THOU, the first, the greatest Friend
Of all the human race!
Whose strong right hand has ever been
Their stay and dwelling place!

Before the mountains heav'd their heads
Beneath thy forming hand,
Before this pond'rous globe itself
Arose at thy command ;

That pow'r which rais'd, and still upholds
This universal frame,

From countless, unbeginning time,
Was ever still the same.

Those mighty periods of years,

Which seem to us so vast, Appear no more before thy sight,

Than yesterday that's past.

Thou gav'st the word: Thy creature, man,
Is to existence brought :
Again thou say'st, Ye sons of men,
Return ye into nought!"

Thou layest them, with all their cares,
In everlasting sleep;

As with a flood thou tak'st them off
With overwhelming sweep.

They flourish like the morning flow'r,
In beauty's pride array'd;
But long ere night cut down, it lies
All wither'd and decay'd.