Volume Iv Part 11 (2/2)

Like the statue of Sorrow, forgetting to weep, Long dimly she follow'd the vanis.h.i.+ng sail, Till it melted away where clouds mantle the deep; Then thus o'er the billows she utter'd her wail:--

”O my Zoopah come back! wilt thou leave me to woe?

Come back, cruel s.h.i.+p, and take Monia too!

Ah ye winds, wicked winds! what fiend bids ye blow To waft my dear Zoopah far, far from my view?

”Great Spirit! why slumber'd the wrath of thy clouds, When the savage white men dragg'd my Zoopah away?

Why linger'd the panther far back in his woods?

Was the crocodile full of the flesh of his prey?

”Ah cruel white monsters! plague poison their breath, And sleep never visit the place of their bed!

On their children and wives, on their life and their death, Abide still the curse of an African maid!”

J. C. DENOVAN.

J. C. Denovan was born at Edinburgh in 1798. Early evincing a predilection for a seafaring life, he was enabled to enter a sloop of war, with the honorary rank of a mids.h.i.+pman. After accomplis.h.i.+ng a single voyage, he was necessitated, by the death of his father, to abandon his nautical occupation, and to seek a livelihood in Edinburgh.

He now became, in his sixteenth year, apprentice to a grocer; and he subsequently established himself as a coffee-roaster in the capital. He died in 1827. Of amiable dispositions, he was an agreeable and una.s.suming member of society. He courted the Muse to interest his hours of leisure, and his poetical aspirations received the encouragement of Sir Walter Scott and other men of letters.

OH DERMOT, DEAR LOVED ONE!

Thou hast left me, dear Dermot! to cross the wide seas, And thy Norah lives grieving in sadness forlorn, She laments and looks back on the past happy days When thy presence had left her no object to mourn Those days that are past, Too joyous to last, A pang leaves behind them, 'tis Heaven's decree; No joy now is mine, In sadness I pine, Till Dermot, dear Dermot, returns back to me.

O Dermot, dear Dermot! why, why didst thou leave The girl who holds thee so dear in her heart?

Oh! couldst thou hold a thought that would cause her to grieve, Or think for one moment from Norah to part?

Couldst thou reconcile To leave this dear isle, In a far unknown country, where dangers there be?

Oh! for thy dear sake This poor heart will break, If thou, dear beloved one, return not to me.

In silence I 'll weep till my Dermot doth come, Alone will I wander by moon, noon, and night, Still praying of Heaven to send him safe home To her who 'll embrace him with joy and delight.

Then come, like a dove, To thy faithful love, Whose heart will entwine thee, fond, joyous, and free; From danger's alarms Speed to her open arms, O Dermot, dear loved one! return back to me.

JOHN IMLAH.

John Imlah, one of the sweetest and most patriotic of Scottish song-writers, was born in North Street, Aberdeen, about the close of the year 1799. His progenitors were farmers in the parish of Fyvie, but his father followed the profession of an innkeeper. Of seven sons, born in succession to his parents, the poet was the youngest. On completing an ordinary education at the grammar-school, he was apprenticed to a pianoforte maker in Aberdeen. Excelling as a piano-tuner he, in this capacity, sought employment in London, and was fortunate in procuring an engagement from the Messrs Broadwood. For the first six months of the year he performed the duties of a tuner in the metropolis, and during the remaining six months prosecuted his vocation in Scotland. Attached to his native country, he took delight in celebrating her strains. He composed songs from his boyhood. In 1827, he published ”May Flowers,” a duodecimo volume of lyrics, chiefly in the Scottish dialect, which he followed by a second volume of ”Poems and Songs” in 1841. He contributed to Macleod's ”National Melodies” and the _Edinburgh Literary Journal_.

On the 9th January 1846, his death took place at Jamaica, whither he had gone on a visit to one of his brothers.

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