Classic Poem

VARIATION

Methought the troop graceful
deploying in order,
ascending with bustle
the cliff of the Sroin;
 'twixt the moor of Craobh na h-Ainnis
 and the mouth of Corrie Dhaingein,
 lusty was the haughty herd
 that pays not for its portion;
 on both sides of Corrie Raineach,
 round that flank of the Bealach,
 in Corrie Reidh of Ben Achallader,
 then over by Connion;
 on Lurgainn na Laoidhre,
 gay was the party;
 about Larach na Feinne,
 on Craig Seileach thereafter,
 where gather the hinds
 that disdained the rank field grass.
 'Twas their joy and delight
 to parade on a plain,
 in fond sport with each other,
 bounding through moorland;
 in miry hags prancing
 to rouse to excitement,
 appetent, riotous,
 hot-blooded, crazy.
 Down below Meall Teanail
 their tongue would not be parched,
 when there is wine of Annat Burn,
 honey-flavoured to drink:
 a potent, bright, limpid stream,
 filtering through the sand;
 'tis sweeter than cinnamon,
 nor was it unknown to us.
 That was the never-failing tonic
 which comes from nether strata:
 abundant good was derived from it
 without purchase by riches,
 within the ben's precincts,
 where the scene is the fairest
 that evolved in the quarter
 of Europe I live in:
 with such pureness of water,
 delicate-flavoured, clear-bubbling,
 soft, kindly, clean, precious,
 not heady to quaff;
 with her elegant springs,
 in the dim roots of cress,
 green moss of many species
 fringing their edges.
 Clear was the surface of the pool.
 coming, untroubled and sweet,
 in eddies from the gravel
 on the shoulder of Ben Dobhrain.
The side on which the Leacainn lies
is covered with beauty,
and the small, rocky Frith Corrie
is standing adjacent—
 with pillars and rock-stacks,
 with hillocks and hummocks,
 with pits and depressions,
 shaggy, rough-coated,
 clumpy and tufted,
 ringlety, lovely;
 her rugged defiles
 are rich pastures of tall grass;
 'twas most easy for me to praise her,
 she was blest in abundance;
 full of clusters and buds,
 having inclines and plains,
 with bright, blushing flowers,
chequered, sweet-verdured, well-favoured,
the forest is decked out
in appropriate raiment.