ELLIOT, Jean
Fear not for Ismael
There is no need to fear for Ishmael,
Though driven from his father's tents was he,
And forced, with Hagar, through the night to flee
Across the sands he came to love so well.
There is no truth in stories that he fell,
For he arose, and, roaming wild and free,
There in the desert, where his strength will be,
His voice is heard like clarion bell.
He is the falcon of those eastern lands,
Since driven forth so long ago by them
Who hated him, across those desert sands.
This falcon stoops to seize the diadem
Of David's kingdom in his hardy hands,
And darkly broods above Jerusalem.
The Flowers of the Forest
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Lasses a-lilting before dawn o' day; But now they are moaning on ilka green loaning;
"The Flowers of the Forest are a' wede away".
The lasses are lonely and dowie and wae. Nae daffin', nae gabbin', but sighing and sobbing,
Ilk ane lifts her leglen, and hies her away.
The Bandsters are lyart, and runkled and grey. At fair or at preaching, nae wooing, nae fleeching,
The Flowers of the Forest are a' wede away.
'Bout stacks wi' the lasses at bogle to play. But ilk ane sits drearie, lamenting her dearie,
The Flowers of the Forest are a' wede away.
The English, for ance, by guile wan the day: The Flowers of the Forest, that foucht aye the foremost,
The prime o' our land are cauld in the clay.
Women and bairns are dowie and wae. Sighing and moaning, on ilka green loaning,
The Flowers of the forest are all wede away.
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Meaning of unusual words:
wede=withered
dowie-sad; wae=woeful; daffin'=dallying, gabbin'=talking
leglen=stool
bandsters=binders, lyart=grizzled
runkled=crumpled; fleeching=coaxing
bogle=peek-a-boo
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