CALEDONIA,
A
POEM, &c.
IN Northern Hights, where Nature ſeldom ſmiles,
Embrac'd with Seas, and buttreſſ't [1] round with Iſles,
Where lofty Shores [2]regard th' adjacent Pole,
Where Winds inceſſant blow, and Waves inceſſant roll;
Where Tyrant [3] Cold in Glacy Ocean reigns,
And all the Habitable World diſdains,
Defies the diſtant Influence of the Sun,
And [4] ſhines in Ice.
Firſt [5] youngest Siſter to the Frozen Zone,
Batter'd by Parent Natures conſtant Frown.
Adapt to Hardſhips, and cut out for Toil;
The beſt worſt Climate, and the worſt beſt Soil.
A rough, unhewn, uncultivated Spot,
- ↑ All the Weſtern and Northern parts of Scotland are fenc'd with small Iſlands, which not only break off the Force of the Atlantick Ocean, but make excellent Harbours for Shipping, and Conveniencies for Trade.
- ↑ The Shores to the North of Scotland may be ſaid to regard the adjacent Pole, either becauſe it lies diretly open to the Great Northern Ocean, which no Sailer could ever yet find the Extent of; or becauſe it ſees that Pole elevated to a great Height.
- ↑ I call that continual Cold in the Frozen Seas here Tyrant Cold, becauſe he reigns Uncontroll’d by the Acceſſion of any Heat from the Sun.
- ↑ Shines in Ice. The Ice and Snow always give a kind of Light, tho faint and melancholy.
- ↑ Youngeſt Siſter, becauſe the North Capes and the Coaſt of Greenland ſeem to be of the ſame Family, but advanc'd farther North. Firſt youngeſt, a Licence taken to expreſs Scotland the firſt of the Habitable, or at leaſt Sociable Parts of the World ſo far North.
