Page:Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1900.djvu/617

 And weening his head was danger-preef, When crown'd with the rose and clover leaf, He gowl'd at the carle, and chased him away To feed wi' the deer on the mountain gray. He gowl'd at the carle, and geck'd at Heaven, But his mark was set, and his arles given. Kilmeny a while her e'en withdrew; She look'd again, and the scene was new.

She saw before her fair unfurl'd One half of all the glowing world, Where oceans roll'd, and rivers ran, To bound the aims of sinful man. She saw a people, fierce and fell, Burst frae their bounds like fiends of hell; Their lilies grew, and the eagle flew; And she herkèd on her ravening crew, Till the cities and towers were wrapp'd in a blaze, And the thunder it roar'd o'er the lands and the seas. The widows they wail'd, and the red blood ran, And she threatened an end to the race of man; She never lened, nor stood in awe, Till caught by the lion's deadly paw. O, then the eagle swink'd for life, And brainyell'd up a mortal strife; But flew she north, or flew she south, She met wi' the gowl o' the lion's mouth.

With a mooted wing and waefu' maen, The eagle sought her eiry again; But lang may she cower in her bloody nest, And lang, lang sleek her wounded breast,

gowl'd] howled. geck'd] mocked. arles] money paid on striking a bargain; fig. a beating. lened] crouched. swink'd] laboured. brainyell'd] stirred, beat. mooted] moulted.