Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Scotland: Vols. VI–VIII. 1876–79.
To Ben Lomond
By James CochraneA
O’er hieroglyphic learning, and to stand
Spelling old marbles in this modern land,
To find the secret of Egyptian lore,
Betakes himself full-fraught to Nilus’ shore,
And gazes, rapt, on tombs and temples vast,
To read the records of the mighty past,
But soon despairs and gives his purpose o’er;
Even so on thy magnificence years long
By day, by night, with rapture have I gazed,
O sovran Ben! that my soul might be raised,
And all my feelings kindled into song:
But vain the wish, when I attempt the theme,
My thoughts escape in air, and I but dream.