Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Scotland: Vols. VI–VIII. 1876–79.
Lanark Mills
By Stuart Lewis (c. 17561818)A
Where oft I ’ve spent the joyful day;
Now, weary wandering on thy side,
I pour the plaintive, joyless lay.
To other lands I ’m doomed to rove,
The thought with grief my bosom fills;
Why am I forced to leave my love,
And wander far from Lanark Mills?
When (’scaped the village evening din)
I met my lass midst Braxfield bowers,
Or near the falls of Corhouse Linn!
While close I clasped her to my breast,
(The idea still with rapture thrills!)
I thought myself completely blest
By all the lads of Lanark Mills.
Thou ’rt fled,—alas! I know not where,
And vanished is each blissful gleam,
And left behind a load of care.
Adieu! dear winding banks of Clyde,
A long farewell, ye rising hills;
No more I ’ll wander on your side,
Though still my heart ’s at Lanark Mills.
While Clyde’s dark stream rolls to the sea,
So long, my dear-loved Lanark Mills,
May Heaven’s best blessings smile on thee.
A last adieu! my Mary dear,
The briny tear my eye distils;
While reason’s powers continue clear,
I ’ll think of thee and Lanark Mills.