THE TEARS OF SCOTLAND. WRITTEN IN THE YEAR MDCCXLVI. Tobias Smollett Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Broad Street Oxford OX1 3BG UK
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive
Taylor Institution Library St Giles' Oxford OX1 3NA UK info@eighteenthcenturypoetry.org https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/
Oxford This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. T124631 1073 K099398.000 Mendez, Moses. A collection of the most esteemed pieces of poetry: that have appeared for several years. With variety of originals, by the late Moses Mendez, Esq; and other contributors to Dodsley's collection. To which this is intended as a supplement. London printed for Richardson and Urquhart 1767 pp. 285-287. [8],320p. ; 8⁰.

This e-text is part of the Works section of the Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA).

XML created for the Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA).

The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.

Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF) text-indent: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: center; text-align: right; text-align: left; display: inline font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;
THE TEARS OF SCOTLAND . WRITTEN IN THE YEAR MDCCXLVI . I. MOURN , hapless Caledonia , mourn Thy banish'd peace , thy laurels torn ! Thy sons , for valour long renown'd , Lie slaughter'd on their native ground ; Thy hospitable roofs no more Invite the stranger to the door ; In smoaky ruins sunk they lie , The monuments of cruelty . II . The wretched owner sees , afar , His all become the prey of war ; Bethinks him of his babes and wife , Then smites his breast , and curses life . Thy swains are famish'd on the rocks , Where once they fed their wanton flocks : Thy ravish'd virgins shriek in vain ; Thy infants perish on the plain . III . What boots it , then , in ev'ry clime , Thro' the wide-spreading waste of time , Thy martial glory , crown'd with praise , Still shone with undiminish'd blaze ? Thy tow'ring spirit now is broke , Thy neck is bended to the yoke : What foreign arms could never quell , By civil rage , and rancour fell . IV . The rural pipe , and merry lay No more shall chear the happy day : No social scenes of gay delight Beguile the dreary winter night : No strains , but those of sorrow , flow , And nought be heard but sounds of woe , While the pale phantoms of the slain Glide nightly o'er the silent plain . V. Oh baneful cause , oh , fatal morn , Accurs'd to ages yet unborn ! The sons against their fathers stood ; The parent shed his children's blood . Yet , when the rage of battle ceas'd , The victor's soul was not appeas'd : The naked and forlorn must feel Devouring flames , and murd'ring steel ! VI . The pious mother doom'd to death , Forsaken , wanders o'er the heath , The bleak wind whistles round her head , Her helpless orphans cry for bread . Bereft of shelter , food , and friend , She views the shades of night descend , And , stretch'd beneath th' inclement skies , Weeps o'er her tender babes , and dies . VII . Whilst the warm blood bedews my veins , And unimpair'd remembrance reigns ; Resentment of my country's fate Within my filial breast shall beat ; And , spite of her insulting foe , My sympathizing verse shall flow , " Mourn , hapless Caledonia , mourn " Thy banish'd peace , thy laurels torn . "