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

CANTO VI.] THE LORD OF THE ISLES. 233
A boundless wilderness of spears,
Whose verge or rear the anxious eye
Strove far, but strove in vain, to spy.
Thick flashing in the evening beam,
Glaives, lances, bills, and banners gleam;
And where the heaven join'd with the hill,
Was distant armour flashing still,
So wide, so far, the boundless host
Seem'd in the blue horizon lost.
XI.
Down from the hill the maiden pass'd
At the wild show of war aghast;
And traversed first the rearward host,
Reserved for aid where needed most.
The men of Carrick and of Ayr,
Lennox and Lanark too, were there,
And all the western land;
With these the valiant of the Isles
Beneath their chieftains rank'd their files,'
In many a plaided band.
There, in the centre proudly raised,
The Bruce's royal standard blazed,
And there Lord Ronald's banner bore
A galley driven by sail and oar.
A wild, yet pleasing contrast, made
private they told the formidable state of the enemy; but ill
public reported that the English were indeed a numerous
host, but ill commanded and worse disciplined.
1 [See Appendix, Note W.]