Eclogue
IN THE MANNER OF OSSIAN . O come, my love! from thy echoing hill; thy locks on the mountain wind!
The hill-top flames with setting light; the vale is bright with the beam of eve. Blithe on the village green the maiden milks her cows. The boy shouts in the wood, and wonders who talks from the trees. But Echo talks from the trees, repeating his notes of joy. Where art thou, O Morna! thou fairest among women? I hear not the bleating of thy flock, nor thy voice in the wind of the hill. Here is the field of our loves; now is the hour of thy promise. See, frequent from the harvest-field the reapers eye the setting sun: but thou appearest not on the plain. —
Daughters of the bow! Saw ye my love, with her little flock tripping before her? Saw ye her, fair moving over the heath, and waving her locks behind like the yellow sunbeams of evening?
Come from the hill of clouds, fair dweller of woody Lumon!
I was a boy when I went to Lumon's lovely vale. Sporting among the willows of the brook, I saw the daughters of the plain. Fair were their faces of youth; but mine eye was fixed on Morna. Red was her cheek, and fair her hair. Her hand was white as the lily. Mild was the beam of her blue eye, and lovely as the last smile of the sun. Her eye met mine in silence. Sweet were our words together in secret. I little knew what meant the heavings of my bosom, and the wild wish of my heart. I often looked back upon Lumon's vale, and blest the fair dwelling of Morna. Her name dwelt ever on my lip. She came to my dream by night. Thou didst come in thy beauty, O maid! lovely as the ghost of Malvina, when, clad with the robes of heaven, she came to the vale of the Moon, to visit the aged eyes of Ossian king of harps.
Come from the cloud of night, thou first of our maidens! come — —
The wind is down; the sky is clear: red is the cloud of evening. In circles the bat wheels overhead; the boy pursues his flight. The farmer hails the signs of heaven, the promise of halcyon days: Joy brightens in his eyes. O Morna! first of maidens! thou art the joy of Salgar! thou art his one desire! I wait thy coming on the field. Mine eye is over all the plain. One echo spreads on every side. It is the shout of the shepherds folding their flocks. They call to their companions, each on his echoing hill. From the red cloud rises the evening star. — But who comes yonder in light, like the Moon the queen of heaven? It is she! the star of stars! the lovely light of Lumon! Welcome, fair beam of beauty, for ever to shine in our valleys!
MORNA .
I come from the hill of clouds. Among the green rushes of Balva's bank, I follow the steps of my beloved. The foal in the meadow frolics round the mare: his bright mane dances on the mountain wind. The leverets play among the green ferns, fearless of the hunter's horn, and of the bounding greyhound. The last strain is up in the wood. — Did I hear the voice of my love? It was the gale that sports with the whirling leaf, and sighs in the reeds of the lake. Blessed be the voice of winds that brings my Salgar to mind. O Salgar! youth of the rolling eye! thou art the love of maidens. Thy face is a sun to thy friends: thy words are sweet as a song: thy steps are stately on thy hill: thou art comely in the brightness of youth; like the Moon, when she puts off her dun robe in the sky, and brightens the face of night. The clouds rejoice on either side: the traveller in the narrow path beholds her, round, in her beauty moving through the midst of heaven. Thou art fair, O youth of the rolling eye! thou wast the love of my youth.
SALGAR .
Fair wanderer of evening! pleasant be thy rest on our plains. I was gathering nuts in the wood for my love, and the days of our youth returned to mind; when we played together on the green, and flew over the field with feet of wind. I tamed the blackbird for my love, and taught it to sing in her hand. I climbed the ash in the cliff of the rock, and brought you the doves of the wood.
MORNA .
It is the voice of my beloved! Let me behold him from the wood-covered vale, as he sings of the times of old, and complains to the voice of the rock. Pleasant were the days of our youth, like the songs of other years. Often have we sat on the old gray stone, and silent marked the stars, as one by one they stole into the sky. One was our wish by day, and one our dream by night.
SALGAR .
I found an apple-tree in the wood. I planted it in my garden. Thine eye beheld it all in flower. For every bloom we marked, I count an apple of gold. To-morrow I pull the fruit for you. O come, my best beloved.
MORNA .
When the gossamer melts in air, and the furze crackle in the beam of noon, O come to Cona's sunny side, and let thy flocks wander in our valleys. The heath is in flower. One tree rises in the midst. Sweet flows the river by its side of age. The wild bee hides his honey at its root. Our words will be sweet on the sunny hill. Till gray evening shadow the plain, I will sing to my well-beloved.
THE VANITY OF OUR DESIRE OF IMMORTALITY HERE:
A STORY IN THE EASTERN MANNER . Child of the years to come, attend to the words of Calem; — Calem, who hath seen fourteen kings upon the throne of China, whose days are a thousand four hundred thirty and nine years.
Thou, O young man! who rejoicest in thy vigour; the days of my strength were as thine. My possessions were large, and fair as the gardens of Paradise. My cattle covered the valleys; and my flocks were as the grass on Mount Tirza. Gold was brought me from the ocean, and jewels from the Valley of Serpents. Yet I was unhappy; for I feared the sword of the angel of Death.
One day, as I was walking through the woods which grew around my palace, I heard the song of the birds: but I heard it without joy. On the contrary, their cheerfulness filled me with melancholy. I threw myself on a bank of flowers, and gave vent to my discontent in these words: " The time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard. These trees spread their verdant branches above me, and beneath the flowers bloom fair. The whole creation rejoices in its existence. I alone am unhappy. Why am I unhappy? What do I want? Nothing. But what avail my riches, when in a little I must leave them? What is the life of man? His days are but a thousand years! As the waves of the ocean; such are the generations of man: The foremost is dashed on the shore, and another comes rolling on. As the leaves of a tree; so are the children of men: They are scattered abroad by the wind, and other leaves lift their green heads. So, the generations before us are gone; this shall pass away, and another race arise. How, then, can I be glad, when in a few centuries I shall be no more? Thou Eternal, why hast thou cut off the life of man? and why are his days so few? "
I held my peace. Immediately the sky was black with the clouds of night. A tempest shook the trees of the forest: the thunder roared from the top of Tirza, and the red bolt shot through the darkness. Terror and amazement seized me; and the hand of him before whom the sun is extinguished was upon me. " Calem, " said he (while my bones trembled), " I have heard thee accusing me. Thou desirest life; enjoy it. I have commanded Death, that he touch thee not. "
Again the clouds dispersed; and the sun chased the shadows along the hills. The birds renewed their song sweeter than ever before I had heard them. I cast mine eyes over my fields, while my heart exulted with joy. " These, " said I, " are mine for ever! " But I knew not that sorrow waited for me.
As I was returning home, I met the beautiful Selima walking across the fields. The rose blushed in her cheeks; and her eyes were as the stars of the morning. Never before had I looked with a partial eye on woman. I gazed; I sighed; I trembled. I led her to my house, and made her mistress of my riches.
As the young plants grow up around the cedar; so my children grew up in my hall.
Now my happiness was complete. My children married; and I saw my descendants in the third generation. I expected to see them overspread the kingdom, and that I should obtain the crown of China.
I had now lived a thousand years; and the hand of time had withered my strength. My wife, my sons, and my daughters, died; and I was a stranger among my people. I was a burden to them; they hated me, and drove me from my house. Naked and miserable, I wandered; my tottering legs scarce supported my body. I went to the dwellings of my friends; but they were gone, and other masters child me from their doors. I retired to the woods; and, in a cave, lived with the beasts of the earth. Berries and roots were my meat; and I drank of the stream of the rock. I was scorched with the summer's sun; and shivered in the cold of winter. I was weary of life.
One day I wandered from the woods, to view the palace which was once mine. I saw it; but it was low. Fire had consumed it: It lay as a rock cast down by an earthquake. Nettles sprung up in the court; and from within the owl scream'd hideous. The fox looked out at the windows: the rank grass of the wall waved around his head. I was filled with grief at the remembrance of what it, and what I had been. " Cursed be the day, " I said, " in which I desired to live for ever. And why, O Thou Supreme! didst Thou grant my request? Had it not been for this, I had been at peace; I had been asleep in the quiet grave; I had not known the desolation of my inheritance; I had been free from the weariness of life. I seek for death, but I find it not: my life is a curse unto me. "
A shining cloud descended on the trees; and Gabriel the angel stood before me. His voice was as the roaring stream, while thus he declared his message: " Thus saith the Highest, What shall I do unto thee, O Calem? What dost thou now desire? Thou askedst life, and I gave it thee, even to live for ever. Now thou art weary of living; and again thou hast opened thy mouth against me. "
The hill-top flames with setting light; the vale is bright with the beam of eve. Blithe on the village green the maiden milks her cows. The boy shouts in the wood, and wonders who talks from the trees. But Echo talks from the trees, repeating his notes of joy. Where art thou, O Morna! thou fairest among women? I hear not the bleating of thy flock, nor thy voice in the wind of the hill. Here is the field of our loves; now is the hour of thy promise. See, frequent from the harvest-field the reapers eye the setting sun: but thou appearest not on the plain. —
Daughters of the bow! Saw ye my love, with her little flock tripping before her? Saw ye her, fair moving over the heath, and waving her locks behind like the yellow sunbeams of evening?
Come from the hill of clouds, fair dweller of woody Lumon!
I was a boy when I went to Lumon's lovely vale. Sporting among the willows of the brook, I saw the daughters of the plain. Fair were their faces of youth; but mine eye was fixed on Morna. Red was her cheek, and fair her hair. Her hand was white as the lily. Mild was the beam of her blue eye, and lovely as the last smile of the sun. Her eye met mine in silence. Sweet were our words together in secret. I little knew what meant the heavings of my bosom, and the wild wish of my heart. I often looked back upon Lumon's vale, and blest the fair dwelling of Morna. Her name dwelt ever on my lip. She came to my dream by night. Thou didst come in thy beauty, O maid! lovely as the ghost of Malvina, when, clad with the robes of heaven, she came to the vale of the Moon, to visit the aged eyes of Ossian king of harps.
Come from the cloud of night, thou first of our maidens! come — —
The wind is down; the sky is clear: red is the cloud of evening. In circles the bat wheels overhead; the boy pursues his flight. The farmer hails the signs of heaven, the promise of halcyon days: Joy brightens in his eyes. O Morna! first of maidens! thou art the joy of Salgar! thou art his one desire! I wait thy coming on the field. Mine eye is over all the plain. One echo spreads on every side. It is the shout of the shepherds folding their flocks. They call to their companions, each on his echoing hill. From the red cloud rises the evening star. — But who comes yonder in light, like the Moon the queen of heaven? It is she! the star of stars! the lovely light of Lumon! Welcome, fair beam of beauty, for ever to shine in our valleys!
MORNA .
I come from the hill of clouds. Among the green rushes of Balva's bank, I follow the steps of my beloved. The foal in the meadow frolics round the mare: his bright mane dances on the mountain wind. The leverets play among the green ferns, fearless of the hunter's horn, and of the bounding greyhound. The last strain is up in the wood. — Did I hear the voice of my love? It was the gale that sports with the whirling leaf, and sighs in the reeds of the lake. Blessed be the voice of winds that brings my Salgar to mind. O Salgar! youth of the rolling eye! thou art the love of maidens. Thy face is a sun to thy friends: thy words are sweet as a song: thy steps are stately on thy hill: thou art comely in the brightness of youth; like the Moon, when she puts off her dun robe in the sky, and brightens the face of night. The clouds rejoice on either side: the traveller in the narrow path beholds her, round, in her beauty moving through the midst of heaven. Thou art fair, O youth of the rolling eye! thou wast the love of my youth.
SALGAR .
Fair wanderer of evening! pleasant be thy rest on our plains. I was gathering nuts in the wood for my love, and the days of our youth returned to mind; when we played together on the green, and flew over the field with feet of wind. I tamed the blackbird for my love, and taught it to sing in her hand. I climbed the ash in the cliff of the rock, and brought you the doves of the wood.
MORNA .
It is the voice of my beloved! Let me behold him from the wood-covered vale, as he sings of the times of old, and complains to the voice of the rock. Pleasant were the days of our youth, like the songs of other years. Often have we sat on the old gray stone, and silent marked the stars, as one by one they stole into the sky. One was our wish by day, and one our dream by night.
SALGAR .
I found an apple-tree in the wood. I planted it in my garden. Thine eye beheld it all in flower. For every bloom we marked, I count an apple of gold. To-morrow I pull the fruit for you. O come, my best beloved.
MORNA .
When the gossamer melts in air, and the furze crackle in the beam of noon, O come to Cona's sunny side, and let thy flocks wander in our valleys. The heath is in flower. One tree rises in the midst. Sweet flows the river by its side of age. The wild bee hides his honey at its root. Our words will be sweet on the sunny hill. Till gray evening shadow the plain, I will sing to my well-beloved.
THE VANITY OF OUR DESIRE OF IMMORTALITY HERE:
A STORY IN THE EASTERN MANNER . Child of the years to come, attend to the words of Calem; — Calem, who hath seen fourteen kings upon the throne of China, whose days are a thousand four hundred thirty and nine years.
Thou, O young man! who rejoicest in thy vigour; the days of my strength were as thine. My possessions were large, and fair as the gardens of Paradise. My cattle covered the valleys; and my flocks were as the grass on Mount Tirza. Gold was brought me from the ocean, and jewels from the Valley of Serpents. Yet I was unhappy; for I feared the sword of the angel of Death.
One day, as I was walking through the woods which grew around my palace, I heard the song of the birds: but I heard it without joy. On the contrary, their cheerfulness filled me with melancholy. I threw myself on a bank of flowers, and gave vent to my discontent in these words: " The time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard. These trees spread their verdant branches above me, and beneath the flowers bloom fair. The whole creation rejoices in its existence. I alone am unhappy. Why am I unhappy? What do I want? Nothing. But what avail my riches, when in a little I must leave them? What is the life of man? His days are but a thousand years! As the waves of the ocean; such are the generations of man: The foremost is dashed on the shore, and another comes rolling on. As the leaves of a tree; so are the children of men: They are scattered abroad by the wind, and other leaves lift their green heads. So, the generations before us are gone; this shall pass away, and another race arise. How, then, can I be glad, when in a few centuries I shall be no more? Thou Eternal, why hast thou cut off the life of man? and why are his days so few? "
I held my peace. Immediately the sky was black with the clouds of night. A tempest shook the trees of the forest: the thunder roared from the top of Tirza, and the red bolt shot through the darkness. Terror and amazement seized me; and the hand of him before whom the sun is extinguished was upon me. " Calem, " said he (while my bones trembled), " I have heard thee accusing me. Thou desirest life; enjoy it. I have commanded Death, that he touch thee not. "
Again the clouds dispersed; and the sun chased the shadows along the hills. The birds renewed their song sweeter than ever before I had heard them. I cast mine eyes over my fields, while my heart exulted with joy. " These, " said I, " are mine for ever! " But I knew not that sorrow waited for me.
As I was returning home, I met the beautiful Selima walking across the fields. The rose blushed in her cheeks; and her eyes were as the stars of the morning. Never before had I looked with a partial eye on woman. I gazed; I sighed; I trembled. I led her to my house, and made her mistress of my riches.
As the young plants grow up around the cedar; so my children grew up in my hall.
Now my happiness was complete. My children married; and I saw my descendants in the third generation. I expected to see them overspread the kingdom, and that I should obtain the crown of China.
I had now lived a thousand years; and the hand of time had withered my strength. My wife, my sons, and my daughters, died; and I was a stranger among my people. I was a burden to them; they hated me, and drove me from my house. Naked and miserable, I wandered; my tottering legs scarce supported my body. I went to the dwellings of my friends; but they were gone, and other masters child me from their doors. I retired to the woods; and, in a cave, lived with the beasts of the earth. Berries and roots were my meat; and I drank of the stream of the rock. I was scorched with the summer's sun; and shivered in the cold of winter. I was weary of life.
One day I wandered from the woods, to view the palace which was once mine. I saw it; but it was low. Fire had consumed it: It lay as a rock cast down by an earthquake. Nettles sprung up in the court; and from within the owl scream'd hideous. The fox looked out at the windows: the rank grass of the wall waved around his head. I was filled with grief at the remembrance of what it, and what I had been. " Cursed be the day, " I said, " in which I desired to live for ever. And why, O Thou Supreme! didst Thou grant my request? Had it not been for this, I had been at peace; I had been asleep in the quiet grave; I had not known the desolation of my inheritance; I had been free from the weariness of life. I seek for death, but I find it not: my life is a curse unto me. "
A shining cloud descended on the trees; and Gabriel the angel stood before me. His voice was as the roaring stream, while thus he declared his message: " Thus saith the Highest, What shall I do unto thee, O Calem? What dost thou now desire? Thou askedst life, and I gave it thee, even to live for ever. Now thou art weary of living; and again thou hast opened thy mouth against me. "
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