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Poets of John Company/Lines Written on the Death of Leyden

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2036580Poets of John Company — Lines Written on the Death of LeydenTheodore Douglas DunnJohn Malcolm (1769-1833)

SIR JOHN MALCOLM.

1769-1833.

Lines Written on the Death of Leyden, 1811.

Where sleep the brave on Java strand,
Thy ardent spirit, Leyden! fled;
And Fame with cypress shades the land,
Where Genius fell, and Valour bled.

When triumph's tale is westward borne,
On Border-Hills no joys shall gleam;
And thy lov'd Teviot long shall mourn
The youthful minstrel of her stream.

Near Jura's rocks the Mermaid's strain
Shall change from glad to solemn lay;
For he is gone, the youthful swain,
Who sung the Maid of Colonsay.

The hardy Tar, Britannia's pride.
Shall hang his manly head in woe;
The Bard who told how Nelson died.
With harp unstrung, in earth lies low.

I see a weeping band arise,
I hear sad music on the gale;
Thy dirge is sung from Scotia's skies.
Her mountain sons their loss bewail.

The Minstrel of thy native North
Pours all his soul into the song;
It bursts from near the winding Forth,
And Highland rocks the notes prolong.


Yes! he who struck a matchless lyre
O'er Flodden's field and Katrine's wave,
With trembling hand now leads the choir
That mourns his Leyden's early grave.