Poetry > Lady of the lake

68
THE LADY OF THE LAKE.
Canto IT
II.
n g.
“ Not faster yonder rowers’ might
Flings from their oars the spray,
Not faster yonder rippling bright,
That tracks the shallop’s course in light,
Melts in the lake away,
Than men from memory erase
The benefits of former days ;
count of the office, and of a bard whom he heard exercise his
talent of recitation :—“ The bard is skilled in the genealogy of
all the Highland families, sometimes preceptor to the young laird,
celebrates in Irish verse the original of the tribe, the famous war¬
like actions of the successive heads, and sings his own lyricks as
an opiate to the chief, when indisposed for sleep; but poets are
not equally esteemed and honoured in all countries. I happened
to be a witness of the dishonour done to the muse, at the house
of one of the chiefs, where two of these bards were set at a good
distance, at the lower end of a long table, with a parcel of High¬
landers of no extraordinary appearance, over a cup of ale. Poor
inspiration ! They were not asked to drink a glass of wine at our
table, though the whole company consisted only of the great man,
one of his near relations, and myself. After some little time, the
chief ordered one of them to sing me a Highland song. The bard
readily obeyed, and with a hoarse voice, and in a tune of few
various notes, began, as I was told, one of his own lyricks : and
when he had proceeded to the fourth or fifth stanza, I perceived,
by the names of several persons, glens, and mountains, which I
had known or heard of before, that it was an account of some
clan battle. But in his going on, the chief (who piques himself
upon his school-learning) at some particular passage, bid him
cease, and cried out, ‘ there’s nothing like that in Yirgil or
Homer.’ I bowed and told him I believed so. This you may
believe was very edifying and delightful.”—Letters, ii. 167.