The toils are pitched, and the stakes are set,
Ever sing merrily, merrily;
The bows they bend, and the knives they whet,
Hunters live so cheerily.
It was a stag, a stag of ten,
Bearing its branches sturdily;
He came silently down the glen,
Ever sing hardily, hardily.
It was there he met with a wounded doe,
She was bleeding deathfully;
She warned him of the toils below,
O so faithfully, faithfully!
He had an eye, and he could heed,
Ever sing so warily, warily;
He had a foot, and he could speed–
Hunters watch so narrowly.
(Sir Walter Scott)
More Poetry from Sir Walter Scott:
- Cadyow Castle (Sir Walter Scott Poems)
- Bruce and the Abbot (Sir Walter Scott Poems)
- Bonaparte (Sir Walter Scott Poems)
- Cleveland Lyke-wake Dirge (Traditional) (Sir Walter Scott Poems)
- Ancient Gaelic Melody (Sir Walter Scott Poems)
- Claud Halcro's Song (Sir Walter Scott Poems)