Where mightiest rivers into powerless sleep Is opened round him :-hamlets, towers, and towns, BUT XXXIII CONCLUSION UT here no cannon thunders to the gale; That rises here, and humbly spread, the sail; XXXIV AFTER-THOUGHT I THOUGHT of Thee, my partner and my guide, The elements, must vanish;—be it so! Enough, if something from our hands have power And if, as toward the silent tomb we go, Through love, through hope, and faith's transcendent dower, We feel that we are greater than we know. YARROW REVISITED, AND OTHER POEMS COMPOSED (TWO excepted) during a tour in scoTLAND, AND ON THE ENGLish border, IN THE AUTUMN OF 1831 ΤΟ SAMUEL ROGERS, ESQ., AS A TESTIMONY OF FRIENDSHIP AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF INTELLECTUAL OBLIGATIONS, THESE MEMORIALS ARE AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED RYDAL MOUNT, Dec. 11, 1834 THE following Stanzas are a memorial of a day passed with Sir Walter Scott and other Friends visiting the Banks of the Yarrow under his guidance, immediately before his departure from Abbotsford, for Naples. The title Yarrow Revisited' will stand in no need of explanation for Readers acquainted with the Author's previous poems suggested by that celebrated Stream. I HE gallant Youth, who may have gained, TH Or seeks, a 'winsome Marrow,' Was but an Infant in the lap When first I looked on Yarrow; Once more, by Newark's Castle-gate Long left without a warder, I stood, looked, listened, and with Thee, Great Minstrel of the Border! Grave thoughts ruled wide on that sweet day, In gentle bosoms, while sere leaves Were on the bough, or falling; But breezes played, and sunshine gleamed— Reddened the fiery hues, and shot Transparence through the golden. ΙΟ For busy thoughts the Stream flowed on In foamy agitation; And slept in many a crystal pool For quiet contemplation: No public and no private care We made a day of happy hours, Brisk Youth appeared, the Morn of Youth, Life's temperate Noon, her sober Eve, Her Night not melancholy; Past, present, future, all appeared In harmony united, Like guests that meet, and some from far, And if, as Yarrow, through the woods Did meet us with unaltered face, Though we were changed and changing; The soul's deep valley was not slow Eternal blessings on the Muse, And her divine employment! The blameless Muse, who trains her Sons Albeit sickness, lingering yet, Has o'er their pillow brooded; And Care waylays their steps-a Sprite For thee, O SCOTT! compelled to change For warm Vesuvio's vine-clad slopes; With native Fancy her fresh aid, 20 30 40 50 Oh! while they minister to thee, With Strength, her venturous brother; For Thou, upon a hundred streams, And streams unknown, hills yet unseen, At parent Nature's grateful call, A gracious welcome shall be thine, Dreams treasured up from early days, And what, for this frail world, were all Did no responsive harp, no pen, Yea, what were mighty Nature's self? Her features, could they win us, Unhelped by the poetic voice That hourly speaks within us? Nor deem that localised Romance Ah, no! the visions of the past Life as she is our changeful Life, With friends and kindred dealing. Bear witness, Ye, whose thoughts that day Of mouldering Newark entered; By the last Minstrel,' (not the last!) Flow on for ever, Yarrow Stream! Well pleased that future Bards should chant To dream-light dear while yet unseen, And dearer still, as now I feel, To memory's shadowy moonshine! 1831 II ON THE DEPARTURE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT FROM ABBOTSFORD, A FOR NAPLES TROUBLE, not of clouds, or weeping rain, Lift up your hearts, ye Mourners! for the might Than sceptred king or laurelled conqueror knows, Be true, Sept. 1831 ΤΟ III A PLACE OF BURIAL IN THE SOUTH OF SCOTLAND ART fenced by man, part by a rugged steep PA That curbs a foaming brook, a Grave-yard lies; The hare's best couching-place for fearless sleep; Which moonlit elves, far seen by credulous eyes, |