Scottish Poetry Selection
- In the Highlands
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) was born in Edinburgh but was not over-fond of "Auld Reekie". The author of such classics as "Treasure Island" and "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" far preferred the wide, open spaces, such as the Highlands, far away from the towns which exacerbated his ill health.
In the Highlands
In the highlands, in the country places,
Where the old plain men have rosy faces,
And the young fair maidens
Quiet eyes;
Where essential silence cheers and blesses,
And for ever in the hill-recesses
Her more lovely music
Broods and dies.O to mount again where erst I haunted;
Where the old red hills are bird-enchanted,
And the low green meadows
Bright with sward;
And when even dies, the million-tinted,
And the night has come, and planets glinted,
Lo, the valley hollow
Lamp-bestarred!O to dream, O to wake and wander
There, and with delight to take and render,
Through the trance of silence
Quiet breath;
Lo! for there, among the flowers and grasses,
Only the mightier movement sounds and passes;
Only winds and river,
Life and death.
Where else would you like to go in Scotland?