J. F. Campbell Collection > Works of the Caledonian bards

J96 THE ANTIENT CHIEF.
No bard fhall found them on the trembling ftring*
My words fliall perifli, and the names I fing.
In vain, alas ! I tempt the lyric art,
With pointlefs words that reach not to the heart:
How fhall I virtues which exift not, draw,
Or fmg of greatnefs which I never faw ?
Weak are my words ; for fate has caft my birth
In the dull evening of the day of worth:
But (lories tell that light did once prevail,
And the fweet fongs of bards confirm the tale j
Thefe fay that nature fmil'd with joy at noon.
When rays came darting from the glorious fun ;
But 1 too long in chaos did remain, '
And now, alas ! I trace his fteps In vain ;
Crouds v/ho have feen him cry the light divine.
But the' fome eyes were bleft, they were not mine ;
Yon wertern hill has fnatch*d him from my fight,
And my foul trembles at th' approach of night ;
Concealing darknefs fprcads her awful gloom.
And mnfic's words are haft'ning to their tomb:
The language of the glens is left for death.
While jargon iflues from the louth born breath ;
Thegrowlmg accents * form'd by rules of art,
Reach not the foul, nor pierce into the heart.
The
* The bard w«i$ provoked to pronouocc this fcverc ccn-
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