Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, DEAR SCOTLAND!, by PETER GARDINER


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

DEAR SCOTLAND!, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Dear scotland! My country, mine own rugged land
Last Line: "dear scotland! My country, I love thee."
Subject(s): Patriotism; Scotland


DEAR Scotland! my country, mine own rugged land,
When in childhood thy mountains I wander'd,
No blue-bell was torn from its couch by this hand,
On the breezes abroad to be squander'd.
Thy heather, thy thistle, were sacred to me;
And the mist-plaided mountains above me
Seem'd the haunt of the souls of the fearless and free --
Dear Scotland! my country, I love thee.

A stripling, I stray'd on a far foreign strand,
And dreamt of the days of my childhood;
And in fancy re-gazed on the cliff-guarded land,
Where the fierce eagle nurtures her wild brood.
My heart gave a bound, and my pulses beat high,
I frown'd on the clear blue above me;
I sigh'd for the mist, while a tear dimm'd mine eye --
Dear Scotland! my country, I love thee.

In manhood I tread thee, mine own cloudy land,
Love's fire in my soul brightly burning;
She touches my heart with her weird-wizard wand,
Thy name in its chambers in-urning.
I bow to my mistress -- I kneel to my God --
And I smile on the grey sky above me,
While the wild blood leaps high as I spring o'er thy sod,
Dear Scotland! my country, I love thee.

Dear Scotland! my country, though Time's shrivell'd hand
Be heavily laid on my forehead;
Though sapp'd be youth's fire, still love for thy strand
Will re-kindle the eyes in my hoar-head.
Though Death strikes me down, still live shall my strain,
While my soul from its haven above thee,
Defying his power, shall murmur again,
"Dear Scotland! my country, I love thee."





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