Volume Ii Part 7 (1/2)

LIFE AND SONG.

I.

If life were caught by a clarionet, And a wild heart throbbing in the reed, Should thrill its joy and trill its fret, And utter its heart in every deed,

II.

Then would this breathing clarionet Type what the poet fain would be; For none o' the singers ever yet Has wholly lived his minstrelsy;

III.

Or clearly sung his true, true thought; Or utterly bodied forth his life, Or out of life and song has wrought The perfect one of man and wife;

IV.

Or lived and sung, that Life and Song Might each express the other's all, Careless if life or art were long Since both were one, to stand or fall.

V.

So that the wonder struck the crowd, Who shouted it about the land: His song was only living aloud, His work, a singing with his hand!

SIDNEY LANIER.

GATHERING SONG OF DONALD THE BLACK.

I.

Pibroch of Donuil Dhu Pibroch of Donuil Wake thy wild voice anew, Summon Clan Conuil.

Come away, come away, Hark to the summons!

Come in your war-array, Gentles and commons.

II.

Come from deep glen, and From mountain so rocky; The war-pipe and pennon Are at Inverlocky.

Come every hill-plaid, and True heart that wears one, Come every steel blade, and Strong hand that bears one.

III.

Leave untended the herd, The flock without shelter; Leave the corpse uninterr'd, The bride at the altar; Leave the deer, leave the steer, Leave nets and barges: Come with your fighting gear, Broadswords and targes.

IV.

Come as the winds come, when Forests are rended, Come as the waves come, when Navies are stranded: Faster come, faster come, Faster and faster, Chief, va.s.sal, page and groom, Tenant and master.

V.

Fast they come, fast they come; See how they gather!

Wide waves the eagle plume Blended with heather.