THE waning moon was toiling up yon steepy mountain’s side,
And her pallid beams, so faint and few, were flickering on the tide;
And the bird of night’s wild scream was heard from yonder ruined wall,
Where Caledonia nightly mourns her ancient glory’s fall.
My mind was rapt in solemn thought and contemplation deep,
As, musing on the days of old, I climbed the rugged steep
Where Knock, in high baronial pride, once reared her stately form,
That now has braved, a thousand years, the battle and the storm.
Methought the notes of ancient war stole softly on my car,
And I heard the clashing of the sword, the buckler, and the spear,
And the trampling of the warrior’s horse, as in the days of old,
He rode beneath yon rifted arch bedecked with glittering gold.
But now, alas! these days are gone, and the tempestriven dome
Is now no more the baron’s pride, or the beauteous maiden’s home;
For the loud wind whistles wildly where the faggots wont to blaze,
And the notes of revelry were heard in Scotia’s proudest days.
And now the dismal owl has placed her eyrie on the wall,
And the solitary raven fixed his lodging in the hall,
Where oft, perhaps, the minstrel bard has charmed the listening throng
With his tale of ancient glory and his wild chivalric song.
But weep not, Caledonia, for thine ancient glory gone,
And thy palaces in ruins, and thy deserted throne;
Far happier are thy children now than their brave fathers when
These walls resounded with the shouts of twice five hundred men.
No chieftain winds his bugle now along thy smiling fields;
No Scottish swords are broken now on Scottish foemen’s shields.
The loudest sound that strikes the ear where thousands fought and fell
Is the song of joyful reapers or the distant Sabbath bell.
(John Dunmore Lang)
More Poetry from John Dunmore Lang:
John Dunmore Lang Poems based on Topics: Man, Night, Joy & Excitement, Mind, War & Peace, Home, Pride, Gold, Horse, Listening, Cars- The King And The Abbot. (John Dunmore Lang Poems)
- My Dream. (John Dunmore Lang Poems)
- Ode To Glasgow College (John Dunmore Lang Poems)
- Verses - III (John Dunmore Lang Poems)
- The Female Convict's Death. (John Dunmore Lang Poems)
- The Irish Stew. (John Dunmore Lang Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Man Poems, Night Poems, Mind Poems, War & Peace Poems, Joy & Excitement Poems, Home Poems, Gold Poems, Birds Poems, Pride Poems, Listening Poems, Horse PoemsBased on Keywords: steepy, baronial, chivalric