A POEM.
59
But when the fierce prætorian cohorts sold 520
The earth's broad empire for alluring gold,
The generous Veri left imperial Rome,
And fixed in warlike Normandy their home.
And when before the Normans' furious might,
The conquered Saxon sunk in fatal fight,
Above the bravest shone the valiant Vere,
And far-famed Oxford fell the hero's share.
But, led by friendship, from their native soil,
They shared the noble Hamilton's exile.
On either side they stretch their wide domain 530
Where turbid Nethan rends the indented plain.
Where ample fields could scarce one sheep sustain,
The plains of Kennedy wave white with grain;
Where scarce the heath the lark's low nest could shade,
Now lofty trees ascending, heaven invade.
Now Clyde propitious opes his fair retreats,
Sage wisdom's haunts, the muses' pleasant seats.
Recesses soft, where rocks around them rolled,
Rebuke the tempest, and defy the cold:
On whose high brows tall woods majestic sweep 540
The skies, their roots swell antic o'er the steep;
Where trickling springs from earth's dark caverns broke,
Weep through the chinks, and tinkle down the rock;
The earth's broad empire for alluring gold,
The generous Veri left imperial Rome,
And fixed in warlike Normandy their home.
And when before the Normans' furious might,
The conquered Saxon sunk in fatal fight,
Above the bravest shone the valiant Vere,
And far-famed Oxford fell the hero's share.
But, led by friendship, from their native soil,
They shared the noble Hamilton's exile.
On either side they stretch their wide domain 530
Where turbid Nethan rends the indented plain.
Where ample fields could scarce one sheep sustain,
The plains of Kennedy wave white with grain;
Where scarce the heath the lark's low nest could shade,
Now lofty trees ascending, heaven invade.
Now Clyde propitious opes his fair retreats,
Sage wisdom's haunts, the muses' pleasant seats.
Recesses soft, where rocks around them rolled,
Rebuke the tempest, and defy the cold:
On whose high brows tall woods majestic sweep 540
The skies, their roots swell antic o'er the steep;
Where trickling springs from earth's dark caverns broke,
Weep through the chinks, and tinkle down the rock;
