Venice masks

Tuesday 27 November 2018

Could I find a bonnie glen - Anne M’Vicar Grant

Could I find a bonnie glen,
  Warm and calm, warm and calm:
Could I find a bonnie glen,
  Warm and calm;
Free frae din, and far frae men,
There my wanton kids I’d pen,
Where woodbines shade some den,
  Breathing balm, breathing balm;
Where woodbines shade some den,
  Breathing balm.

Where the steep and woody hill
  Shields the deer, shields the deer;
Where the steep and woody hill
  Shields the deer;
Where the woodlark, singing shrill,
Guards his nest beside the rill,
And the thrush, with tawny bill,
  Warbles clear, warbles clear;
Where the thrush, with tawny bill,
  Warbles clear.

Where the dashing waterfall
  Echoes round, echoes round;
Where the dashing waterfall
  Echoes round;
And the rustling aspen tall,
And the owl, at evening’s call,
Plaining from the ivied wall,
  Joins the sound, joins the sound;
Plaining from the ivied wall,
  Joins the sound.

There my only love I’d own,
  All unseen, all unseen;
There my only love I’d own,
  All unseen;
There I’d live for her alone,
To the restless world unknown,
And my heart should be the throne
  For my queen, for my queen;
And my heart should be the throne
  For my queen!

Anne M’Vicar Grant of Laggan (1755–1838) Scotland
Source: The Book of Georgian Verse, Chosen and Edited with Notes by William Stanley Braithwaite, Brentano’s, 1909

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please keep your comments relevant and free from abusive language. Thank you. Note that comments are moderated so it may be a day or two before your comment is posted - irrelevant or abusive comments will not be published.