Page:Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1918.djvu/639

 JAMES HOGG

Then the gruff grim carle girn'd amain, And they trampled him down, but he rose again; And he baited the lion to deeds of weir, Till he lapp'd the blood to the kingdom dear; And weening his head was danger-preef, When crown 'd with the rose and clover leaf, He gowPd at the carle, and chased him away To feed wi' the deer on the mountain gray. He gowPd at the carle, and gcck'd at Heaven, But his mark was set, and his arles given. Kihncny 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 rolPd, 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 herked 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 thrcaten'd 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,

girn'd] snarled, weir] war. gowPd] howled, gcck'd] mocked. arles] money paid on striking a bargain fig a beating-. lened] crouched. swink'd] laboured.

bramyclPd] stirred, beat.

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