John Wilson Poems on Night (9 Poems)

The Children’s Dance (John Wilson Poems)

How calm and beautiful the frosty nightHas stolen unnoticed like the hush of sleepO’er Grassmere-vale! Beneath the mellowing lightHow sinks in softness every rugged steep!The old church-tower a solemn watch doth keepO’er the sweet village she adorns so well;Faintly the … Continue reading →

Edderline’s Dream. Canto First (John Wilson Poems)

Castle-Oban is lost in the darkness of night,For the moon is swept from the starless heaven,And the latest line of lowering lightThat lingered on the stormy even,A dim-seen line, half cloud, half wave,Hath sunk into the weltering grave.Castle-Oban is dark … Continue reading →

Address To A Wild Deer In The Forest Of Dalness, Argyllshire (John Wilson Poems)

Magnificent Creature! so stately and bright!In the pride of thy spirit pursuing thy flight;For what hath the child of the desert to dread,Wafting up his own mountains that far-beaming head;Or borne like a whirlwind down on the vale?-Hail! King of … Continue reading →

A Lay Of Fairy Land (John Wilson Poems)

It is upon the Sabbath-day, at rising of the sun,That to Glenmore’s black forest-side a Shepherdess hath gone,From eagle and from raven to guard her little flock,And read her Bible as she sits on greensward or on rock.Her Widow-mother wept … Continue reading →

The Widow (John Wilson Poems)

The courtly hall is gleaming brightWith fashion’s graceful throng–All hearts are chained in still delight,For like the heaven-borne voice of nightBreathes Handel’s sacred song.Nor on my spirit melts in vainThe deep-the wild-the mournful strainThat fills the echoing hall(Though many a … Continue reading →

Elegy On The Death Of An Infant (John Wilson Poems)

Ere Margaret was three months old,Her father laid her in the mould!Poor Babe! her fleeting visit hereWas marked by many a sigh and tear,And sudden starts of unknown painOft seemed to shake her little brain!Scarcely unto her ear was knownA … Continue reading →

Solitude (John Wilson Poems)

O vale of visionary rest!-Hushed as the grave it liesWith heaving banks of tenderest greenYet brightly, happily serene,As cloud-vale of the sleepy westReposing on the skies.Its reigning spirit may not vary-What change can seasons bringUnto so sweet, so calm a … Continue reading →

Prayer to Sleep (John Wilson Poems)

O gentle Sleep, wilt thou lay thy headFor one little hour on thy lover’s bed,And none but the silent stars of nightShall witness be to our delight!Alas! ’tis said that the couch must beOf the Eider-down that is spread for … Continue reading →

The Voice of the Mountains (John Wilson Poems)

List! while I tell what forms the mountain’s voice!-The storms are up; and from yon sable cloudDown rush the rains; while ‘mid the thunder loudThe viewless eagles in wild screams rejoice.The echoes answer to the unearthly noiseOf hurling rocks, that, … Continue reading →