BETA

To Scotland.

Scotland ! the land of all I love,1
The land of all that love me ;2
Land, whose green sod my youth has trod,3
Whose sod shall lie above me !4
Hail, country of the brave and good,5
Hail, land of song and story ;6
Land of the uncorrupted heart,7
Of ancient faith and glory !8
Like mother’s bosom o’er her child,9
Thy sky is glowing o’er me ;10
Like mother’s ever-smiling face,11
Thy land lies bright before me.12
Land of my home, my father’s land,13
Land where my soul was nourished ;14
Land of anticipated joy,15
And all by memory cherish’d !16
Oh, Scotland, through thy wide domain,17
What hill, or vale, or river,18
But in this fond enthusiast heart19
Has found a place for ever ?20
Nay, hast thou but a glen or shaw,21
To shelter farm or shieling,22
That is not garner’d fondly up23
Within its depths of feeling ?24
Adown thy hills run countless rills25
With noisy ceaseless motion ;26
Their waters join the rivers broad,27
Those rivers join the ocean ;28
And many a sunny, flowery brae,29
Where childhood plays and ponders,30
Is freshn’d by the lightsome flood,31
As wimpling on it wanders.32
Within thy long-descending vales33
And on the lonely mountain,34
How many wild spontaneous flowers35
Hang o’er each flood and fountain !36
The glowing furze—the “bonny broom,”37
The thistle, and the heather ;38
The blue bell, and the gowan fair,39
Which childhood loves to gather.40
Oh, for that pipe of silver sound,41
On which the shepherd lover,42
In ancient days, breathed out his soul,43
Beneath the mountain’s cover !44
Oh, for that Great Lost Power of Song,45
So soft and melancholy,46
To make thy every hill and dale47
Poetically holy !48
And not alone each hill and dale,49
Fair as they are by nature,50
But every town and tower of thine,51
And every lesser feature ;52
For where is there the spot of earth,53
Within my contemplation,54
But from some noble deed or thing55
Has taken consecration ?56
First, I could sing how brave thy sons,57
How pious and true-hearted,58
Who saved a bloody heritage59
For us in times departed ;60
Who, through a thousand years of wrong,61
Oppress’d and disrespected,62
Ever the generous, righteous cause63
Religiously protected.64
I’d sing of that old early time,65
When came the victor Roman,66
And, for the first time, found in them67
Uncompromising foemen ;68
When that proud bird, which never stoop’d69
To foe, however fiery,70
Met eagles of a sterner brood71
In this our northern eyry.72
Next, of that better glorious time,73
When thy own patriot Wallace74
Repell’d and smote the myriad foe75
Which storm’d thy mountain palace.76
When on the sward of Bannockburn77
De Bruce his standard planted,78
And drove the proud Plantagenet79
Before him, pale and daunted.80
Next, how, through ages of despair,81
Thou brav’dst the English banner,82
Fighting like one who hopes to save83
No valued thing but honour.84
How thy own young and knightly kings,85
And their fair hapless daughter,86
Left but a tale of broken hearts87
To vary that of slaughter.88
How, in a later, darker time,89
When wicked men were reigning,90
Thy sons went to the wilderness91
All but their God disdaining :92
There, hopeful only of the grave,93
To stand through morn and even,94
Where all on earth was black despair,95
And nothing bright but heaven.96
And, later still, when times were changed,97
And tend’rer thoughts came o’er thee,98
When abject, suppliant, and poor,99
Thy Injurer came before thee.100
How thou did’st freely all forgive,101
Thy heart and sword presented,102
Although thou knew’st the deed must be103
In tears of blood repented.104
Scotland ! the land of all I love,105
The land of all that love me ;106
Land, whose green sod my youth has trod,107
Whose sod shall lie above me ;108
Hail ! country of the brave and good,109
Hail ! land of song and story ;110
Land of the uncorrupted heart,111
Of ancient faith and glory !112