The way was long, the wind was cold,
The Minstrel was infirm and old;
His withered cheeks and tresses gray
Seem'd to have known a better day;
The harp, his sole remaining joy,
Was carried by an orphan boy.
The last of all the Bards was he,
who sung of Border chivalry;
For welladay! their date was fled,
His tuneful brethren all were dead;
And he, neglected and opress'd,
Wish'd to be with them, and at rest.
(illustration from The Poetical Works of Sir Walter Scott, published by Thomas Y. Crowell & Company, NY, 1888.) My copy is inscribed with what I imagine is a quill dipped in ink: "To Stella, Xmas '91."
Note: that would be 1891, not 1991.
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