On Visiting Melrose. James Grahame (1765-1811). Melrose Abbey. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. 1876-79. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes. Scotland: Vols. VI-VIII

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Scotland: Vols. VI–VIII. 1876–79.

Melrose Abbey

On Visiting Melrose

James Grahame (1765–1811)


After an Absence of Sixteen Years YON setting sun, that slowly disappears,
Gleams a memento of departed years:
Ay, many a year is gone, and many a friend,
Since here I saw the autumn sun descend.
Ah! one is gone, whose hand was locked in mine,—	5
In this, that traces now the sorrowing line:
And now alone I scan the mouldering tombs,
Alone I wander through the vaulted glooms,
And list, as if the echoes might retain
One lingering cadence of her varied strain.	10
Alas! I heard that melting voice decay,
Heard seraph tones in whispers die away;
I marked the tear presageful fill her eye,
And quivering speak,—I am resigned to die.
Ye stars that through the fretted windows shed	15
A glimmering beam athwart the mighty dead,
Say to what sphere her sainted spirit flew,
That thither I may turn my longing view,
And wish, and hope, some tedious seasons o’er,
To join a long lost friend, to part no more.	20