Tuesday, April 26, 2011

A Poem of Wallace

A stirring poem of a principled man surrounded by dead heroes and living cowards.

The Lament of Wallace,
After the Battle of Falkirk

By Robert Tannahill (1774-1810)

"Thou dark winding Carron, once pleasing to see,
To me thou can'st never give pleasure again;
My brave Caledonians lie low on the lea,
And thy streams are deep-ting'd with the blood of the slain.
Ah! base-hearted has doom'd our undoing, -
My poor bleeding country what more can I do?
Even valour looks pale o'er the red field of ruin,
And Freedom beholds her best warriors laid low.

"Farwell, ye dear partners of peril! farewell!
Though buried ye lie in one wide bloody grave,
Your deeds shall ennoble the place where ye fell,
And your names be enroll'd with the sons of the brave.
But I, a poor outcast, in exile must wander,
Perhaps, like a traitor, ignobly must die!
On thy wrongs, O my country! indignant I ponder -
Ah! woe to the hour when thy Wallace must fly!"