Sooth'd with the sound, the king grew vain; Fought 15 all his battles o'er again;

And thrice he routed 16 all his foes, and thrice he slew the slain !

17

The master saw the madness rise;

His glowing cheeks, his ardent eyes;
And, while he heav'n and earth defied―
Chang'd his hand and check'd his pride.
He chose a mournful muse,

Soft pity to infuse: 18

He sung Darius,19 great and good,

By too severe a fate,

Fall'n fall'n! fall'n! fall'n!

Fall'n from his high estate,
And weltering 20 in his blood!
Deserted at his utmost need
By those his former bounty fed,

On the bare earth exposed he lies,
With not a friend to close his eyes!

With downcast look the joyless victor sat,
Revolving, in his alter'd soul,

The various turns of fate below;
And, now and then, a sigh he stole,
And tears began to flow!

The mighty master smil'd, to see
That love was in the next degree;
"Twas but a kindred sound to move;
For pity melts the mind to love.

Softly sweet, in Lydian 21 measures,
Soon he sooth'd his soul to pleasures.
War, he sung, is toil and trouble;
Honour but an empty bubble;

45

50

55

60

65

70

Never ending, still beginning,
Fighting still, and still destroying,

If the world be worth thy winning,
Think, oh think, it worth enjoying!

The many rend the skies with loud applause :
So love was crowned; but music won the

cause.

Now, strike the golden lyre again!

A louder yet, and yet a louder strain !
Break his bands of sleep asunder,

And rouse him, like a rattling peal of thunder!
Hark! hark! the horrid sound

Has rais'd up his head,

As awak'd from the dead;

And amaz'd he stares around.

Revenge! revenge! Timotheus cries

See the Furies 22 arise!

See the snakes that they rear,

How they hiss in their hair,

And the sparkles that flash from their eyes! Behold a ghastly band,

Each a torch in his hand!

23

These are Grecian ghosts, that in battle were

slain,

And, unburied, remain

Inglorious on the plain!
Give the vengeance due
To the valiant crew!

Behold! how they toss their torches on high,
How they point to the Persian abodes,
And glitt❜ring temples of their hostile gods!

75

85

85

90

95

100

The princes applaud with a furious joy;
And the king seiz'd a flambeau,24 with zeal to
destroy ;

Thais led the way,

To light him to his prey;

And, like another Helen, fired another Troy !

Thus, long ago,

Ere heaving bellows learned to blow,
While organs yet were mute,

Timotheus, to his breathing flute

And sounding lyre,

Could swell the soul to rage-or kindle soft

27

The sweet enthusiast from her sacred store

Enlarged the former narrow bounds,
And added length to solemn sounds,

With nature's mother wit, and arts unknown.
before.

Let old Timotheus yield the prize,

Or both divide the crown:
He rais'd a mortal to the skies;
She drew an angel down!

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110

115

120

5 Desert, that which one deserves.
6 Thais, one of the ladies attached
to the court of Alexander the
Great.

7 Timotheus, a celebrated musician
of Boeotia, was a special favourite
with Alexander. His musical
skill was so great that it is said
he could animate his royal patron |
with any passion he desired to
move, by his mastery over "the
power of sound."

8 Lyre, a musical instrument, a harp.

9 Deity, a god.

10 Ravished, delighted.

11 Assume, to take upon oneself.
12 Spheres, worlds.

13 Bacchus, the god of wine.
14 Hautboys, a high-toned wooden
musical instrument, having a
tapering tube with holes and keys.
15 Fought, &c., Alexander imagines
that he is again on the field of
battle.

16 Routed, conquered, defeated.
17 The master, the musician.

18 Infuse, to pour into, to inspire.

19 Darius was king of Persia, but

was defeated by Alexander, who conquered his kingdom.

20 Weltering, to roll.

21 Lydia, a province of Asia Minor.
22 Furies, the goddesses of vengeance.
23 Grecian ghosts. It is said by Dio-
dorus that the sight of 800 Greeks,
whom the Persians had mutilated,
so exasperated Alexander that he
permitted his army to plunder
the capital. At a royal banquet,
given by him to his thirty gene-
rals, being intoxicated, he allowed
the splendid city to be fired, at
the instigation of Thais.
24 Flambeau, a flaming torch.
25 Helen, the beautiful wife of Mene-
laus, king of Lacedæmon, was
carried away by Paris, the son of
Priam, king of Troy. This occa-
sioned the great Trojan War,
which lasted ten years, when
Troy was reduced to ashes by the
Greeks.

26

Cecilia, the patroness of music, and regarded as the inventress of the organ.

27 Enthusiast, one who admires or loves intensely.

BATTLE OF KILLIECRANKIE.1

ON the heights of Killiecrankie yester-morn our army lay:

Slowly rose the mist in columns from the river's broken way;

Hoarsely roared the swollen torrent, and the pass was wrapped in gloom,

When the clansmen rose together from their lair amidst the broom.

Then we belted on our tartans, and our bonnets down we drew,

And we felt our broadswords' edges, and we proved them to be true;

5

And we prayed the prayer of soldiers, and we cried the gathering cry;

And we clasped the hands of kinsmen, and we swore to do or die!

Then our leader rode before us on his war-horse black as night

Well the Cameronian rebels knew that charger in the fight!

And a cry of exultation from the bearded · warriors rose ;

2

For we loved the house of Claver'se, and we thought of good Montrose."

But he raised his hand for silence-"Soldiers! I have sworn a vow:

Ere the evening's sun shall glisten on Schehallion's lofty brow

Either we shall rest in triumph, or another of the Græmes

Shall have died in battle-harness for his country and King James!

Think upon the Royal Martyr. the Royal Martyr -think of what his race endure

Think on him whom butchers murdered on the field of Magus Moor:

By his sacred blood I charge ye, by the ruined

hearth and shrine

By the blighted hopes of Scotland, by your injuries and mine

ΙΟ

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