The Highland monthly - National Library of Scotland

220 The Highland Monthly.
polished poet, is evidenced by four of his really most
beautiful poems ; but his Tribute to the genius of Shakes-
peare, his Verses to the comet of 1811, the poem entitled,
" The Dweller in Heaven," worthy, as Mr Howitt says, of
the noblest bard, and his Ode to the Skylark, by far the
most beautiful poem ever written to that bird, of all others
dear to the British poets
—
— !
Bird of the wilderness.
Blithesome and cumberless,
Sweet be thy matin o'er moorland and lea !
Elmblem of happiness,
Blest is thy dwelling-place
Oh, to abide in the desert with thee
Wild is thy lay and loud.
Far in the downy cloud.
Love gives it energy, love gave it birth.
Where, on thy dewy wing.
Where art thou journeying ?
Thy lay is in heaven, thy love is on earth.
O'er fell and fountain sheen.
O'er moor and mountain green.
O'er the red streamer that heralds the day,
O'er the cloudlet dim.
O'er the rainbow's rim.
Musical cherub, soar, singing, away
Then, when the gloamin' comes.
Low in the heather blooms.
Sweet will thy welcome and bed of love be !
Emblem of happiness.
Blest is thy dwelling-place
Oh, to abide in the desert with thee !
With the fault of prolixity, Hogg, as an imaginative
writer and poet, possessed other defects, which may be
briefly indicated. He had no power of constructing plot,
little in depicting character, and his verse is sometimes
wanting in dignity. But, throwing aside these defects,
those who can appreciate true poety will find in him real
enjoyment. Hogg had a love of country, and of his own
Border-land, which always comes home to the heart of