Random thoughts

Sorry to be so...well, random, but these are my favorite pieces of poetry right now.

Give me but one hour of Scotland,
Let me see it ere I die.
William Edmondstoune Aytoun


Now Nature hangs her mantle green
On every blooming tree,
And spreads her sheets o' daises white
Out o'er the grassy lea
Now Pheebus cheers the crystal streams,
And glads the azure skies;
But nought can glad the weary wight
That fast in durance lies.

Now laverocks wake the merry morn
Aloft on dewy wing;
The merle, in his noontide bow'r,
Makes woodland echoes ring;
The mavis wild ai' mony a note,
Sings drowsy day to reast
In love and freedom they rejoice,
Wi' care nor thrall opprest.

Now blooms the lily by the bank,
The primrose down the brae;
The hawthorn's budding in the glen,
And milk-white is the slae:
The meanest hind in fair Scotland
May rove their sweets amang;
But I, the Queen of a' Scotland,
Maun lie in prison strang.
(the first half of Robert Burn's poem "Lament of Mary, Queen of Scots.")

No voice divine the storm allay'd,
No light propitious shone;
When, snatch'd from all effectual aid,
We perish'd, each alone:
But I beneath a rougher sea,
And whelm'd in deeper gulfs than he.
(the last bit of "The Castaway",by William Cowper.)

God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
(the first bit of "Light Shining out of the Darkness", by William Cowper.)

Well, I have even more that I love, but I don't wish to bore you. Maybe sometime soon I shall mention some other subject, other than poetry.
Celine

p.s. We put up our Christmas decor yesterday, and got the perfect tree picked out in record time: 5 minutes. I love Christmas, don't you?