On the Anniversary of Culloden

Take away that star and garter--Hide them from my aching sight:Neither king nor prince shall tempt meFrom my lonely room this night;Fitting for the throneless exileIs the atmosphere of pall,And the gusty winds that shiver'Neath the tapestry on the wall.When the taper faintly dwindlesLike the pulse within the vein,That to gay and merry measureNe'er may hope to bound again,Let the shadows gather round meWhile I sit in silence here,Broken-hearted, as an orphanWatching by his father's bier.Let me hold my still communionFar from every earthly sound--Day of penance--day of passion--Ever, as the year comes round;Fatal day, whereon the latestDie was cast for me and mine--Cruel day, that quelled the fortunesOf the hapless Stuart line!Phantom-like, as in a mirror,Rise the griesly scenes of death--There before me, in its wildness,Stretches bare Culloden's heath:There the broken clans are scattered,Gaunt as wolves, and famine-eyed,Hunger gnawing at their vitals,Hope abandoned, all but pride--Pride, and that supreme devotionWhich the Southron never knew,And the hatred, deeply rankling,'Gainst the Hanoverian crew.Oh, my God! are these the remnants,These the wrecks of the arrayThat around the royal standardGathered on the glorious day,When, in deep Glenfinnan's valley;Thousands, on their bended knees,Saw once more that stately ensignWaving in the northern breeze,When the noble TullibardineStood beneath its weltering fold,With the Ruddy Lion rampingIn the field of tressured gold,When the mighty heart of Scotland,All too big to slumber more,Burst in wrath and exultation,Like a huge volcano's roar?There they stand, the battered columns,Underneath the murky sky,In the hush of desperation,Not to conquer, but to die.Hark! the bagpipe's fitful wailing:Not the pibroch loud and shrill,That, with hope of bloody banquet,Lured the ravens from the hill,But a dirge both low and solemn,Fit for ears of dying men,Marshalled for their latest battle,Never more to fight again.Madness--madness! Why this shrinking?Were we less inured to warWhen our reapers swept the harvestFrom the field of red Dunbar?Bring my horse, and blow the trumpet!Call the riders of Fitz-James:Let Lord Lewis head the column!Valiant chiefs of mighty names--Trusty Keppoch, stout Glengarry,Gallant Gordon, wise Locheill--Bid the clansmen hold together,Fast, and fell, and firm as steel.Elcho, never look so gloomy--What avails a saddened brow?Heart, man, heart! we need it sorely,Never half so much, as now.Had we but a thousand troopers,Had we but a thousand more!Noble Perth, I hear them coming!--Hark! the English cannons' roar.God! how awful sounds that volley,Bellowing through the mist and rain!Was not that the Highland slogan?Let me hear that shout again!Oh, for prophet eyes to witnessHow the desperate battle goes!Cumberland! I would not fear thee,Could my Camerons see their foes.Sound, I say, the charge at venture--'Tis not naked steel we fear;Better perish in the mêléeThan be shot like driven deer;Hold! the mist begins to scatter!There in front 'tis rent asunder,And the cloudy bastion crumblesUnderneath the deafening thunder;There I see the scarlet gleaming!Now, Macdonald--now or never!--Woe is me, the clans are broken!Father, thou art lost for ever!Chief and vassal, lord and yeoman,There they lie in heaps together,Smitten by the deadly volley,Rolled in blood upon the heather;And the Hanoverian horsemen,Fiercely riding to and fro,Deal their murderous strokes at random.--Ah, my God! where am I now?Will that baleful vision neverVanish from my aching sight?Must those scenes and sounds of terrorHaunt me still by day and night?Yea, the earth hath no oblivionFor the noblest chance it gave,None, save in its latest refuge--Seek it only in the grave!Love may die, and hatred slumber,And their memory will decay,As the watered garden recks notOf the drought of yesterday;But the dream of power once broken,What shall give repose again?What shall charm the serpent-furiesCoiled around the maddening brain?What kind draught can nature offerStrong enough to lull their sting?Better to be born a peasantThan to live an exiled king!Oh, these years of bitter anguish!--What is life to such as me,With my very heart as palsiedAs a wasted cripple's knee!Suppliant-like for alms dependingOn a false and foreign court,Jostled by the flouting nobles,Half their pity, half their sport.Forced to hold a place in pageant,Like a royal prize of war,Walking with dejected featuresClose behind his victor's car,Styled an equal--deemed a servant--Fed with hopes of future gain--Worse by far is fancied freedomThan the captive's clanking chain!Could I change this gilded bondageEven for the dusky tower,Whence King James beheld his ladySitting in the castle bower;Birds around her sweetly singing,Fluttering on the kindling spray,And the comely garden glowingIn the light of rosy May.Love descended to the window--Love removed the bolt and bar--Love was warder to the loversFrom the dawn to even-star.Wherefore, Love, didst thou betray me?Where is now the tender glance?Where the meaning looks once lavishedBy the dark-eyed Maid of France?Where the words of hope she whispered,When around my neck she threwThat same scarf of broidered tissue,Bade me wear it and be true--Bade me send it as a tokenWhen my banner waved once moreOn the castled Keep of London,Where my fathers' waved before?And I went and did not conquer--But I brought it back again--Brought it back from storm and battle--Brought it back without a stain;And once more I knelt before her,And I laid it at her feet,Saying, "Wilt thou own it, Princess?There at least is no defeat!"Scornfully she looked upon meWith a measured eye and cold--Scornfully she viewed the token,Though her fingers wrought the gold;And she answered, faintly flushing,"Hast thou kept it, then, so long?Worthy matter for a minstrelTo be told in knightly song!Worthy of a bold Provençal,Pacing through the peaceful plain,Singing of his lady's favour,Boasting of her silken chain,Yet scarce worthy of a warriorSent to wrestle for a crown.Is this all that thou hast brought meFrom thy fields of high renown?Is this all the trophy carriedFrom the lands where thou hast been?It was broidered by a Princess,Canst thou give it to a Queen?"Woman's love is writ in water!Woman's faith is traced in sand!Backwards--backwards let me wanderTo the noble northern land:Let me feel the breezes blowingFresh along the mountain-side;Let me see the purple heather,Let me hear the thundering tide,Be it hoarse as CorrievreckanSpouting when the storm is high--Give me but one hour of Scotland--Let me see it ere I die!Oh, my heart is sick and heavy--Southern gales are not for me;Though the glens are white with winter,Place me there, and set me free;Give me back my trusty comrades--Give me back my Highland maid--Nowhere beats the heart so kindlyAs beneath the tartan plaid!Flora! when thou wert beside me,In the wilds of far Kintail--When the cavern gave us shelterFrom the blinding sleet and hail--When we lurked within the thicket,And, beneath the waning moon,Saw the sentry's bayonet glimmer,Heard him chant his listless tune--When the howling storm o'ertook us,Drifting down the island's lee,And our crazy bark was whirlingLike a nutshell on the sea--When the nights were dark and dreary,And amidst the fern we lay,Faint and foodless, sore with travel,Waiting for the streaks of day;When thou wert an angel to me,Watching my exhausted sleep--Never didst thou hear me murmur--Couldst thou see how now I weep!Bitter tears and sobs of anguish,Unavailing though they be:Oh, the brave--the brave and noble--That have died in vain for me!