Blair Collection > Selections from the Gaelic bards

MODERN GAELIC BARDS.
And, lo ! I had caught a bright sea-trout,
That lay like a swan on the strand :
Pleased was my soul with the fortune
That came with such joy to my hand.
My spouse! thou 'rt the star of the morning!
Blest be thy slumbers and bland !
Thy manners were womanly ever,
Gentle in word and in deed;
So genial, so kind, and so glowing —
Free of grudging, and closeness, and greed
Almsgiving, liberal, pitying,
Humane with all that had need ;
On the good thou hast done, I 'm persuaded,
Thy spirit for ever shall feed.
When I studied to form thy acquaintance,
With words that were courteous and gay,
Thy breath smelt as sweet as the apples,
Golden and ripe on the spray :
There was not a thing worth the telling
That thou couldst not wile me to say;
And shouldst thou now leave me, the linen
And grave would hide me away.
Thy talk and thy singing are pleasant,
Thy nature is charming always —
Mirthful, noble, and free from
A shade of reproach or disgrace.
boon in Duncan Ban's mind. He had cast his net into the waters, and
instead of landing an ordinary fish like the others, lo ! his was a bright
sea- trout, that lay like a swan among the rest. So also with the preced-
ing verse, he had not merely got a green hough like others, hut one that
was " quite covered over with blossoms," beautiful and blooming with
sweet hopes. Tho imagery is particularly fresh and charming in both