1824 Poem, George Dugall, ‘Song, Written in 1815’

Author: George Dugall

Date: 1824

Source: Poem: ‘Song, Written in 1815’, from The Northern Cottage and other poems; written partly in the Dialect of the North of Ireland by George Dugall (Londonderry: William McCorkell, 1824)

Comments: George Dugall (c.1790-1855) was the son of Rev. George Dugall, Presbyterian minister of Magherafelt from 1786-1810, and lived most of his life near Newtowncunningham in Donegal. He was a schoolteacher in north Donegal, and his only book of poems The Northern Cottage contains an extensive glossary of Ulster-Scots words. The vocabulary and cultural context of his poems are rich in Ulster-Scots reference.

Doc. ref. no.: USLS/TB/Poetry/1800-1899/048

SONG

Written in 1815

Thou warbler wha sustainst the blast,

Cauld shiv’ring in the leafless tree,

Fear not, the storm will soon be past,

And joys again shall beam on thee.

Remembrance, future hopes and fears,

Nae entrance to thy bosom find;

The present blink of wae appears,

And flying leaves nae trace behind.

The day will smile, thy mate return,

And a’ thy weary cares remove;

Why hopeless, heartless, shouldst thou mourn,

Whilst happy in requited love?

Frae me nae storm could force a sigh;

Nor nature’s wreck extort a tear;

Love heaves my bosom — fills my eye —

To love is a’ my mis’ry here.

Yes, love’s a caulder storm to me

In life’s, than nature’s wintry day;

For when my Sylvia glads my e’e,

She smiles but to encrease my wae.

Thus while the trav’ller onward strays,

Amid the blust’ring wind and rain,

The long-lost sun wi’ transient blaze,

Blinks forth to mock the wretch’s pain.

Other poems from ‘The Northern Cottage’

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