-

his genial heat restore life and beauty to the face of nature; but the flowers to which the poet's, thoughts were turned, were never again to bloffom, They were cut off for ever. The place which once knew them, fhould know, them no more.

וי

The paffion, therefore, which we must suppose prevailing in the poet's mind, and which he describes in the poem, is grief: grief of a peculiarly aggravated kind; and which, we, who live in happier times, cannot easily conceive.. The forrow was general in the country. Many a mother then bewailed her fon: many a fifter her brother: many a widow her husband: many a maid her lover. No family but had cause to weep at the mention of Flodden Field.

It is the nature of this paffion to dwell on hofe circumftances which nourish it; and to aggravate the mifery of the prefent, by contrafting it with the joys of the paft, This is exemplified in the poem now before us. The great caufe of the grief, the death of the young warriors, is repeated in almoft every ftanza: and all the circumftances introduced, have a tendency to heighten the forrow.

There feems, indeed, great art in the felection of thefe circumftances. The poet did not mean to paint the effects of grief upon the whole body of the people. This could not have been fuccefsfully attempted in a fhort poem. He therefore confined himself paint its effects on thofe whofe fituation, he well knew, would in general be moft interefting, namely, the virgins. Nor does he defcribe all the various ways in which they might be affected by this difaftrous event; he confiders it only in one point of view, and that too, the most interefting, as it affected them with regard to love, when

Ilk ane fits dreary,
Lamenting her deary.

Thus, we may obferve an unity of defign kept up throughout the poem. All the circumftances introdu

ced, relate to the young virgins; and relate to them in refpect of love.

There are three circumstances laid hold of by the poet, all expreffive of the greatnefs of their grief; their fighing, their filence as to words, and their love of foli tude. Inftances of these we shall have occafion to remark, in particularly examining the poem. When the firft anguish of grief is abated, we may have fatisfaction in the fociety of our friends, and may have a pleasure in unbofoming our thoughts to them, and in liftening to the confolations they fuggeft. But the grief which the bard describes, was yet unabated. It refused to be comforted. It could not be expreffed by words; but by fighs and tears. It had no pleasure in the fociety even of friends; but fought in folitude freedom of indul

gence.

The bard too heightens this description of their forrow, by contrafting it with their former fcenes of merriment. This he has done in four inftances; which we proceed now to examine.

Ι.

I've hear'd a lilting
At the, &c.

In this and the following ftanza, the poet gives us the first instance, in defcribing the milking of the ewes. He begins by mentioning the cheerful fcene which he ufed to witnefs in the morning. Joy was in every virgin's face, as she went forth to her work. They manifefted the gaiety of their hearts, by joining in the song, and every obferver partook of their joy. But now

* Lilting and milking are not allowable rhymes according to modern rules. Confiderable latitude is indeed given to the rhyming vowels, as grove, love, joined, kind, &c. &c which frequently occur in our best poets. But the rhyming confonant must be invariably the fame. There is a more ftriking violation of this rule in the last ftanza, foreft, foremcft, wae, and away, are alfo improper rhymes, the rhyming fyllables being in fact the fame in found. We find, however, among the old poets, lefs nicety in these respects. By the way, do not thefe afford fome prefumption in favours of the poem's int quity?

how different was the cafe. Nothing now ftruck the sear, but the voice of mourning and what met the eye ..was the weeping virgins. They were not, as formerly, cheerfully affociating together: but wandering by themfelves in a very retired path,, to give vent to their forrow. There is a beauty and pathos in this contraft, that cannot fail of touching the heart. That love was the great caufe of this forrow, though it be not exprefsly mentioned in this fianza, is abundantly evident from what is faid in the next.

The

The fame contraft is carried on in this ftanza. firft defcribed their going to the buchts; this what is done at their arrival there. The laffes are faid to be lonely, not only in respect of their fallen lovers; but in refpect of each other. They have no relish for fociety; they feek for folitude. Even when engaged together in the fame employment of milking the ewes, not a word is exchanged; nothing heard but fighing and fobbing. They feem defirous to retire as foon as poffible; and they go away, not in a company, but one by one. "Ilk sane lifts her leglin."

III.

At e'en in the gloming,
Nae fwankies, &c.

In this ftanza, we have another inftance of their grief; their not partaking of any of their amufements. Here too the contraft is preferved, and the imagery introduced fimple aud beautiful. We are pleafed to fee inno cent amufements going on after the labours of the day. Even the diverfions of children conftitute a gay and pleasant scene. It becomes more interefting, when we fuppofe the perfons engaged, fo far advanced, as that love can bear a part. But how much more interesting VOL. I.

Ff

is the scene contrafted with it. The lovely virgins now forgo all their amufements. They are retired, each by herself: They weep in fecret their fallen lovers; and refufe all comfort. What heart not deftitute of feeling, but muft fympathize with them, and join the poet in lamenting the untimely fate of the Flowers of the Foreft. This metaphor used to exprefs the youth, is a hapIn thofe times, we may eafily fuppofe, garpy one. dening was not carried to any degree of perfection. In the fields and the woods only, they be held the beauties of nature's fpontaneous productions. And what could be a fitter emblem of the youth who had lately fallen, than those wild flowers, which at best were but for a feafon; and which were often cut off prematurely, from various incidents. This metaphor fuggefts the age of those who had fallen. They were in the bloom of youth, in the prime of life. It fuggefts alfo their beauty. They were fair and lovely flowers. They were lovely in the eyes of the virgins. They appeared ftill more lovely at their death. They had fallen in a glorious caufe, fighting for their king and country. We find in fcripture a beautiful allufion, very fimilar to this: "Man that is born of a woman, is of few days, and "full of trouble. He cometh forth as a flower, and is "cut down."

IV.

In har'ft at the shearing,
Nae blyth, &c.

In this ftanza, we have another inftance of the change that had taken place, fince the fatal battle. As the poet had mentioned stacks in the former ftanza, his thoughts were naturally turned to the cutting down of the grain in the harveft; which used to be a time of great mirth and feftivity. But now the women only were engaged in this work, no youths to affist them.

There is fomething very affecting in the circumstance of the binders. They are all old men-the fathers,

we may suppose, of those who should have been engaged in this work. They were too much overcome with grief themselves, to adminifter comfort to the weeping maidens. The grief of both too was embittered on this occafion, by the recollection af the former merry icenes, at that feafon.

In the latter part of this ftanza, the poet mentions another inftance, in which the change was remarkable. There were now no love ploys, as formerly at the fairs and preachings. Love had for a feafon taken wing; and given place to forrow and defpair. Here, I confefs, I could have wifhed a change; that preachings had either not been attended to, or attended to in a different manner. We commend the young men for fhewing all attention to the maidens at the fairs; and improving such seasons of leifure for cherishing a virtuous affection. But when attending the public ordinances of religion in the church or in the fields, they ought to have fomething higher in view, than what relates merely to themselves. Poetry fhould ever be employed in the service of religion and virtue; and keep at a distance from the appearance of licentiousness.

After having thus beautifully defcribed the effects of grief upon the virgins, the poet in this stanza naturally gives vent to his own: vainly exclaiming against the unhappy mandate, which had proved the cause of fuch misfortunes. He difcovers here a partiality to his countrymen, which is at least pardonable. He al

* The remarks above, may fhew that the author is not fo partial as to find no fault with the poem. It is the more neceffary, because the abuse, there clluded to, is at this day common in fome parts of Scotland. Tent preachings are often confidered as a ploy of the fame kind with the fairs. When they refort to them with fuch views, we may eafily fuppofe little attention will be given to the worship of God, or to the inftructions delivered by the preachers.