Alexander Anderson Poems

The hills in the Hielands are bonnie,
Wi' the licht an' the shadow at play;
An' the winds that mak' redder the heather
Far up on the cliff an' the brae.
The white clouds are floatin' abune them,
Like snawdrifts that never can fa',
The hills in the Hielands are bonnie,
The hills in the Hielands are braw!
...

One star alone from the blue sky
Looks down upon the simple stream,
With such a quiet, loving eye,
That I perforce must dream.
...

I took her down a country dance,
And ever in its giddy wheeling
Her eyes beam'd forth the sweetest glance
That ever sent a poet reeling—
Dear eyes, within whose light I saw
The cherub angel's golden riddle;
I listen'd to its tender law,
And turn'd my back upon the fiddle.
...

I hear the winds of summer rush
Above my head to-day,
As here I sit by Connelbush
To dream one hour away.
...

Is wee Jamie waukin' yet?
Lyin' unco lang;
Better cuddlin' in his bed
When his mammy's thrang.
...

In the shake and rush of the engine,
In the full, deep breath of his chest,
In the swift, clear clank of the gleaming crank,
In his soul that is never at rest;
...

On the down line, and close beside the rail,
A tender violet grew,
A sister spirit, when the stars grew pale,
Gave it a drink of dew.
...

Let us sing, my toiling Brothers, with our rough, rude voice a song
That shall live behind, nor do us in the after ages wrong,
...

Bright the firelight touch'd his portrait hanging on our humble wall,
But a sweeter light was in us, with a deeper, purer glow—
...

God wrapt him in a world of purer light
And clearer thought. His soul
Pulsed into being, gifted with far might.
The roll
...