William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Georgian Verse. 1909.
Song: ‘Where shall the lover rest’Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832)
W
Whom the fates sever
From his true maiden’s breast,
Parted forever?
Where, through groves deep and high,
Sounds the far billow,
Where early violets die,
Under the willow.
Eleu loro,
Soft shall be his pillow.
Cool streams are laving;
There, while the tempests sway,
Scarce are boughs waving;
There thy rest shalt thou take,
Parted forever,
Never again to wake,
Never, O never!
Eleu loro,
Never, O never!
He the deceiver,
Who could win maiden’s breast,
Ruin and leave her?
In the lost battle,
Borne down by the flying,
Where mingles war’s rattle
With groans of the dying.
Eleu loro,
There shall he be lying.
O’er the false-hearted;
His warm blood the wolf shall lap,
Ere life be parted.
Shame and dishonour sit
By his grave ever;
Blessing shall hallow it,—
Never, O never!
Eleu loro,
Never, O never!