Oh evil was the root, and bitter was the fruit,

And crimson was the juice of the vintage that we trod; For we trampled on the throng of the haughty and the strong,

Who sate in the high places, and slew the saints of God.

It was about the noon of a glorious day of June,

That we saw their banners dance, and their cuirasses

shine,

And the Man of Blood was there, with his long essenced

hair,

And Astley, and Sir Marmaduke, and Rupert of the

Rhine.

Like a servant of the Lord, with his Bible and his sword, The General rode along us to form us to the fight, When a murmuring sound broke out, and swell'd into a shout

Among the godless horsemen upon the tyrant's right.

And hark! like the roar of the billows on the shore,

The cry of battle rises along their charging line! For God for the Cause! for the Church, for the Laws ! For Charles King of England, and Rupert of the

Rhine!

The furious German comes, with his clarions and his

drums,

His bravoes of Alsatia, and pages of Whitehall; They are bursting on our flanks.

Grasp your pikes, close

conquer or to fall.

They are here! They rush on! We are broken! We are gone!

Our left is borne before them like stubble on the blast. O Lord, put forth thy might! O Lord, defend the right! Stand back to back, in God's name, and fight it to the last.

Stout Skippon hath a wound; the centre hath given ground:

Hark! hark!--What means the trampling of horsemen on our rear?

Whose banner do I see, boys? 'Tis he, thank God, 'tis

he, boys.

Bear up another minute: brave Oliver is here.

Their heads all stooping low, their points all in a row, Like a whirlwind on the trees, like a deluge on the dykes,

Our cuirassiers have burst on the ranks of the Accurst, And at a shock have scattered the forest of his pikes. Fast, fast, the gallants ride, in some safe nook to hide Their coward heads, predestined to rot on Temple Bar: And he he turns, he flies :-shame on those cruel eyes That bore to look on torture, and dare not look on war.

Ho! comrades, scour the plain; and, ere ye strip the slain,

First give another stab to make your search secure, Then shake from sleeves and pockets their broad-pieces and lockets,

The tokens of the wanton, the plunder of the poor.

Fools! your doublets shone with gold, and your hearts were gay and bold,

When you kissed your lily hands to your lemans to

day;

And to-morrow shall the fox, from her chambers in the

rocks,

Lead forth her tawny cubs to howl above the prey.

Where be your tongues that late mocked at heaven and hell and fate,

And the fingers that once were so busy with your

blades,

Your perfum'd satin clothes, your catches and your oaths, Your stage-plays and your sonnets, your diamonds

and your spades?

Down, down, for ever down with the mitre and the crown, With the Belial of the Court, and the Mammon of the

Pope;

There is woe in Oxford Halls; there is wail in Durham's

Stalls:

The Jesuit smites his bosom: the Bishop rends his

cope.

And She of the seven hills shall mourn her children's ills, And tremble when she thinks on the edge of England's

sword;

And the Kings of earth in fear shall shudder when they hear

What the hand of God hath wrought for the Houses

and the Word.

Rosabelle

MACAULAY.

O LISTEN, listen, ladies gay!
No haughty feat of arms I tell ;
Soft is the note, and sad the lay,
That mourns the lovely Rosabelle.

'Moor, moor the barge, ye gallant crew!
And, gentle ladye, deign to stay!
Rest thee in Castle Ravensheuch,

Nor tempt the stormy firth to-day.

'The blackening wave is edged with white;
To inch and rock the sea-mews fly;
The fishers have heard the Water-Sprite,
Whose screams forebode that wreck is nigh.

'Last night the gifted Seer did view

A wet shroud swathed round ladye gay;
Then stay thee, Fair, in Ravensheuch;
Why cross the gloomy firth to-day?'

"Tis not because Lord Lindesay's heir
To-night at Roslin leads the ball,
But that my ladye-mother there
Sits lonely in her castle-hall.

"Tis not because the ring they ride,
And Lindesay at the ring rides well,
But that my sire the wine will chide,
If 'tis not fill'd by Rosabelle.'-—

1 Inch, isle.

O'er Roslin all that dreary night,

A wondrous blaze was seen to gleam;
'Twas broader than the watch-fire's light,
And redder than the bright moonbeam.
It glared on Roslin's castled rock,

It ruddied all the copse-wood glen ;
'Twas seen from Dryden's groves of oak,
And seen from cavern'd Hawthornden.
Seem'd all on fire that chapel proud,
Where Roslin's chiefs uncoffin'd lie,
Each Baron, for a sable shroud,
Sheathed in his iron panoply.
Seem'd all on fire within, around,
Deep sacristy and altar's pale;
Shone every pillar foliage-bound,

And glimmer'd all the dead men's mail.
Blazed battlement and pinnet high,
Blazed every rose-carved buttress fair-
So still they blaze, when fate is nigh,
The lordly line of high St. Clair.

There are twenty of Roslin's barons bold
Lie buried within that proud chapelle ;
Each one the holy vault doth hold-
But the sea holds lovely Rosabelle !

And each St. Clair was buried there,
With candle, with book, and with knell ;

But the sea-caves rung, and the wild wings sung, The dirge of lovely Rosabelle !

SCOTT.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

IN SEVEN PARTS

PART I

IT is an ancient Mariner,

And he stoppeth one of three.

'By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,

Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?

'The Bridegroom's doors are open'd wide, And I am next of kin ;

The guests are met, the feast is set :
May'st hear the merry din.'

He holds him with his skinny hand,
'There was a ship,' quoth he.

'Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon !' Eftsoons his hand dropt he.

He holds him with his glittering eye-
The Wedding-Guest stood still,
And listens like a three years' child :
The Mariner hath his will.

The Wedding-Guest sat on a stone:
He cannot choose but hear;

And thus spake on that ancient man,

The bright-eyed Mariner :

'The ship was cheer'd, the harbour clear'd,

Merrily did we drop

Below the kirk, below the hill,

Below the light-house top.

'The Sun came up upon the left,

Out of the sea came he!

And he shone bright, and on the right
Went down into the sea.

'Higher and higher every day

Till over the mast at noon-'

The Wedding-Guest here beat his breast

For he heard the loud bassoon.

The Bride hath paced into the hall,

Red as a rose is she;

Nodding their heads before her goes
The merry minstrelsy.

The Wedding-Guest he beat his breast,

Yet he cannot choose but hear;
And thus spake on that ancient man
The bright-eyed Mariner :