XVIII. LAMENT OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS. ON THE EVE OF A NEW YEAR. I. SMILE of the Moon!-for so I name A gentle flash of light that came From her whom drooping captives love; Thou that didst part the clouds of earth, II. Bright boon of pitying Heaven!-alas, The threshold of another year ; Of hopelessness and fear. III. And yet, the soul-awakening gleam, Tears due unto their own. IV. To-night the church-tower bells will ring Through these wide realms a festive peal; To the new year a welcoming; A tuneful offering for the weal Of happy millions lulled in sleep; By wounds that may not heal. V. Born all too high, by wedlock raised -It is my royal state that yields VI. Yet how?-for I, if there be truth VII. Unblest distinction! showered on me VIII. A Woman rules my prison's key; IX. Farewell desire of human aid, Which abject mortals vainly court! My burthen to support. X. Hark! the death-note of the year From her sunk eyes a stagnant tear 1817. XIX. THE COMPLAINT OF A FORSAKEN INDIAN WOMAN, [When a Northern Indian, from sickness, is unable to continue his journey with his companions, he is left behind, covered over with deer-skins, and is supplied with water, food, and fuel, if the situation of the place will afford it. He is informed of the track which his companions intend to pursue, and if he be unable to follow, or overtake them, he perishes alone in the desert; unless he should have the good fortune to fall in with some other tribes of Indians. The females are equally, or still more, exposed to the same fate. See that very interesting work HEARNE'S JOURNEY from HUDSON'S BAY to the NORTHERN OCEAN. In the high northerr. latitudes, as the same writer informs us, when the northern lights vary their position in the air, they make a rustling and a crackling noise, as alluded to in the following poem.] I. BEFORE I see another day, In sleep I heard the northern gleams; Oh let my body die away! |