Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE BARD'S WISH by DAVID MACBETH MOIR

First Line: O! WERE I LAID / IN THE GREENWOOD SHADE
Last Line: THAT RENDER LIFE BUT A LONG DISEASE!
Subject(s): DISEASE;
I.

O! WERE I laid
In the greenwood shade,
Beneath the covert of waving trees;
Removed from woe,
And the ills below,
That render life but a long disease!

II.

No more to weep,
But in soothing sleep
To slumber on long ages through;
My grave-turf bright
With the rosy light
Of eve, or the morning's silver dew!

III.

For all my dreams,
And vision'd gleams,
Are not like those of this earthly span;
My spirit would stray
For ever away
From the noise of strife, and the haunts of man.

IV.

I ask no dirge—
The foaming surge
Of the torrent will sing a lament for me;
And the evening breeze,
That stirs the trees,
Will murmur a mournful lullaby.

V.

Plant not—plant not—
Above the spot,
Memorial stones for the stranger's gaze;
The earth and sky
Are enough, for I
Have lived with Nature all my days!

VI.

O! were I laid
In the greenwood shade,
Beneath the covert of waving trees;
Removed from woe,
And the ills below,
That render life but a long disease!



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