The poetical works of Sir Walter Scott, with memoir of the author.

CANTO V.] THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 201
The serried warriors move at once;
And evil were the luck, if dawn
Descried them on the open lawn.
Copses they traverse, brooks they cross,
Strain up the bank and o'er the moss.
From the exhausted page's brow 1
Cold drops of toil are streaming now;
With effort faint 2 and lengthen'd pause,
His weary step the stripling draws.
"Nay, droop not yet! " 3 the warrior said;
"Come, let me give thee ease and aid!
Strong are mine arms, and little care
A weight so slight as thine to bear.What! wilt thou not?-capricious boy!Then thine own limbs and strength employ.
Pass but this night, and pass thy care,
I'll place thee with a lady fair,
Where thou shalt tune thy lute to tell
How Ronald loves fair Isabel!"
Worn out, dishearten'd, and dismay'd,
Here Amadine let go the plaid;
His trembling limbs their aid refuse,4
He sunk among the midnight dews!5
1 [MS. —" From Amadine's exhausted brow."]
2 [MS.-"-And double toil," &c.]
3 [MS.-" Nay, fBar not yet," &c.]
4 [MS. "his weight refuse."]
5 [" This canto is not distinguished by many passages of
extraordinary merit; as it is, however, full of business, and
comparatively free from those long rhyming dialogues which
are so frequent in the poem, it is upon the whole spirited and