in memoriam.
199
In Memoriam,
WRITTEN AT AYR ON THE DAY OF THE INTERMENT OF THE DEEPLY LAMENTED EARL OF EGLINTON AND WINTON.
Upon the solemn hush sad sounds are stealing
Slow, mournful tollings of the passing bell;
Unopened marts, and grief looks, are revealing
How dearly loved was he whose is the knell.
A drooping banner from the tower is floating,
And half-raised pendants from each ship mast fall;
The rank of the illustrious dead denoting,
And reverential grief, sustained by all.
Slow, mournful tollings of the passing bell;
Unopened marts, and grief looks, are revealing
How dearly loved was he whose is the knell.
A drooping banner from the tower is floating,
And half-raised pendants from each ship mast fall;
The rank of the illustrious dead denoting,
And reverential grief, sustained by all.
In courtly halls a mighty shadow's lying,
Filling each joy-scene with a sudden gloom;
In humbler mansions there are tears and sighing,
Deep as e'er trembled o'er a brother's tomb.
"Gone!" cries the universal voice of mourning,
"Our Eglinton, the courteous, free, and kind;
Our prince of peers, his lofty sphere adorning,
Noble in rank, but nobler still in mind."
Filling each joy-scene with a sudden gloom;
In humbler mansions there are tears and sighing,
Deep as e'er trembled o'er a brother's tomb.
"Gone!" cries the universal voice of mourning,
"Our Eglinton, the courteous, free, and kind;
Our prince of peers, his lofty sphere adorning,
Noble in rank, but nobler still in mind."
Scarcely have faded each triumphant measure
Which rose in honour of his natal day,
'Till deepest woe usurps the place of pleasure,
And festal garbs are changed for black array.
Which rose in honour of his natal day,
'Till deepest woe usurps the place of pleasure,
And festal garbs are changed for black array.
