Page:Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1918.djvu/632

 JAMES HOGG

Late, late in gloamin' when all was still, When the fringe was red on the westlin hill, The wood was sere, the moon i' the wane, The reek o' the cot hung over the plain, Like a little wee cloud in the world its lane; When the ingle low'd wi' an ciry lemc, Late, late in the gloamin' Kilmcny came hainc'

'Kilmeny, Kilmeny, where have you been ? Lang hae we sought baith holt and den; By linn, by ford, and green-wood tree, Yet you are halesome anH fair to sec. Where gat you that joup o' the lily schccn^ That bonnie snood of the birk sac green ? And these roses, the fairest that ever were seen? Kilmcny, Kilmeny, where have you bcen ? '

Kilmcny look'd up with a lovely grace, But nae smile was seen on Kilmcny's face; As still was her look, and as still was her e'e, As the stillness that lay on the emcrant lea, Or the mist that sleeps on a waveless sea. For Kilmcny had been, she knew not where, And Kilmcny had seen what bhe could not declare, Kilmeny had been where the cock never crew, Where the rain never fell, and the wind never blew But it scem'd as the harp of the sky had rung, And the airs of heaven play'd round her tongue, When she spake of the lovely forms she had seen, And a land where sin had never been,

westlin] westein. its lane] alone, by itself. low'd]

flamed. eiry leme] eery gleam. linn] waterfall. joup] mantle.

�� �