YARROW REVISITED, AND OTHER POEMS

COMPOSED (TWO EXCEPTED) DURING A TOUR IN SCOTLAND AND ON THE ENGLISH BORDER, IN THE AUTUMN OF 1831.

XII. THE EARL OF BREADALBANE'S RUINED MANSION AND FAMILY BURIAL-PLACE, NEAR KILLIN

          WELL sang the Bard who called the grave, in strains
          Thoughtful and sad, the "narrow house." No style
          Of fond sepulchral flattery can beguile
          Grief of her sting; nor cheat, where he detains
          The sleeping dust, stern Death. How reconcile
          With truth, or with each other, decked remains
          Of a once warm Abode, and that 'new' Pile,
          For the departed, built with curious pains
          And mausolean pomp? Yet here they stand
          Together,--'mid trim walks and artful bowers,               10
          To be looked down upon by ancient hills,
          That, for the living and the dead, demand
          And prompt a harmony of genuine powers;
          Concord that elevates the mind, and stills.