Thomas Campbell

“ When watch-fires burst from across the main,
From Rona, and Uist, and Skye,
To tell that the ships of the Dane
And the red-hair'd slayers were nigh.
Our islemen arose from slumbers,
And buckled on their arms;
But few, alas! were their numbers
To Lochlin's mailed swarms.
And the blade of the bloody Norse
Has filled the shores of the Gaël
With many a floating corse,
And with many a woman's wail. ”

“ For the Norse dropt spear, and bow, and brand,
And look'd on them silently;
Safe from their hiding-places came
Orphans and mothers, child and dame:
But, alas! when the search for Reullura spread,
No answering voice was given,
For the sea had gone o'er her lovely head,
And her spirit was in Heaven.
1824
This work was published before January 1, 1928, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago. ”

“ Beyond the wonted years of men.
He sits by the graves of well-loved friends
That died ere they grandsire's grandsire's birth;
The oak is decayed with age on the earth,
Whose acorn-seed has been planted by him ”