And now at equal distance shews the land.Gladly the tars the joyful task pursue Of gathering in the freight.-Debates arise Thro' every corner where their watchful eye At length, we, cheerful, land on Fifan shore, Where sickness vanishes, and all the ills Attendant on the passage of Kinghorn. Our pallid cheeks resume their rosy hue, And empty stomachs keenly crave supply. With eager step we reached the friendly inn ; Nor did we think of beating our retreat Till every gnawing appetite was quelled. Eastward along the Fifan coast we stray : And here th' unwearied eye may fondly gaze O'er all the tufted groves and pointed spires With which the pleasant banks of Forth are crowned. Sweet navigable stream! where Commerce reigns, Where Peace and jocund Plenty smiles serene. On thy green banks sits Liberty enthroned: But not that shadow which the English youth So eagerly pursue; but freedom bought, Taught the proud sons of Anglia to bemoan Their fate at Bannockburn, where thousands came, Never to tread their native soil again. Far in a rugged den, where Nature's hand Had careless strewed the rocks, a dreadful cave, Whose concave ceiling echoed to the floods Then, turning westward, we our course pur sue Along the course of Fortha's briny flood, * A large cave at a small distance from Kinghorn, supposed, about a century ago, to have been the haunt of thieves. Till we o'ertake the gradual rising dale To enter in, and taste what precious drops Were there reserved to moisten strangers' throats, Too often parched upon the tedious way. After regaling here with sober cann, Our limbs we plied, and nimbly measured o'er And to M'Laren's marched, where roasted lamb, With cooling lettice, crowned our social board. Here, too, the cheering glass, chief foe to Care, Went briskly round; and many a virgin fair Received our homage in a bumper full. Thus having sacrificed a jocund hour Now still returning eve creeped gradual on, And the bright sun, as weary of the sky, Beamed forth a languid occidental ray, Whose ruby-tinctured radiance faintly gleamed Upon the airy cliffs and distant spires, That float on the horizon's utmost verge. So we, with festive joints and lingering pace, Moved slowly on, and did not reach the town Till Phoebus had unyoked his prancing steeds. Ye sons of Caledonia! who delight, With all the pomp and pageantry of state, To roll along in gilded affluence, For one poor moment wean your thoughts from these, And list this humble strain.-If you, like us, Paid by the watchful cock; or be compelled Where Indolence on purple sofa lolls. A BURLESQUE ELEGY, On the Amputation of a Student's Hair before his Qrders. O SAD catastrophe! O event dire! How shall the loss, the heavy loss, be borne ? Or how the Muse attune the plaintive lyre, To sing of Strephon with his ringlets shorn? Say ye, who can divine the mighty cause, From whence this modern circumcision springs? Why such oppressive and such rigid laws Alas, poor Strephon! to the stern decree Which prunes your tresses, are you doomed to yield? Soon shall your caput, like the blasted tree, Diffuse its faded honours o'er the field. |