Glen Desseray

G L E N D E S S E R A Y A N D O TH ER P OE M S B Y . HAI R P C . S J ( 0 F OR truth -bre athed music soul - like lays - r e e Not of vain glo y born , nor lov of prais , Bu t we e e - lling pur ly from profound h art springs , l i e ee w th e e That d p do n amid lif of things , A ee e ear nd singing on , h dl ss thou gh mortal S hould n ever their lone murmur overh ear L E N D E S S E A N D OT H E R P O E M S L YR I CA L A N D E L E G fA C J O H N CA MP BE L L S HA I R P . D . LA T E P R I N C I PA L O F T H E U N I T E D CO L L EG E S T . A N D REWS A N D , , , PRO F ES S OR O F POET RY I N T H E U N IV ER S I T Y O F O X F OR D F A N I T P A L G R A E R C S . V LL . D . E D I N B U R G H 1 0M on M A C M I L L A N A N D C O . A N D N E W Y O R K ’ TO T H E AUTHOR S EARLY FRI END S \V H O HAVE SU RV IVED H I M ; TO TH E FRI END S O F LATER YEARS ; A N D T ALL \V H O O M I S S H I S P RE S ENCE , A N D \V HO U E H I S TH O U HTS I N P RO S E AN D ERSE VAL G , V ; T HE S E P O E MS A R E FO R H I S S KE ED I C TED BY , A , D A E . S . P R E F A C E IN carrying out th e labour o f love entrusted to me by thos e most nearly conn e ct e d with this much e e e e honour d and r grett d Fri nd , my wish has been to pre sent such a selection from his published and manuscript verse as shall do justice to one of the e - e e o f o u r e most sincer and high mind d po ts c ntury . a s t h e o f Nothing, verdict Time constantly but vainly e proves , is more insecure than cont mporary judgments upon contemporary work in art and literature . I n ” e e e d d , Fame herself, as a great critic observes , ev n “ e sh e wh n seems firmly established , has but a short ” memory . I shall therefore attempt no forecasting ’ o r e stimate o f what Sh ai rp s place in o u r poetry may e e prov , beyond this , which can be saf ly hazarded that in t h e following po e ms no sensitive mind can fail to find th e note o f what his friend M atthew — Arnold has exc e llently describ e d as the b e e e . e note of a pur , refin d , mod st originality I t is e w e yond question a voic , not an echo , which hear. - as Even in his ballad songs , easily that form invites Sh ai r to imitation , p preserves an individual quality ; v iii PREFACE a s was nor, devoted he to Wordsworth , do we trace in the lyrics more than a few slight reminiscences o f e his mann r . e I n a Garland lik this , chosen , unhappily , from t h e th e silent treasury of dead, where but little cer tainty can be fe lt which pieces might have se e med to the writer worthy preservation , my endeavour in — s e lecting has been to follow the only safe rul e admit such poems alone a s fairly s e em on a level with the ’ e i s poet s b st work . A choice thus made difficult , h n e O e e o e . and can hardly p to satisfy very I f, ther e — e fore , any read rs S cottish r aders in particular e find omissions to regret , let me ask th ir pardon on the pl e a that I have tried to do what is most loyal to ’ Shai r s th e p memory , and would far rather bear blame o f o n bad taste my own account , than follow those deplorable e xamples o f exhaustive publication by ” which a mistaken Love of L e tters h as too often wam the s e o e s e se es S pt acr d p t with th m lv , ’ swe eping - i n t h e r ej ected fragments o f the artist s e o re th e studio , and irreverently alloying with inf rior o f pure gold genius . Although some short lyrics from the volume pub li sh e d by Sh airp in 18 6 4 (under th e titl e of th e nar ’ rat i v e e Kz l ma izoe th e e po m , , which fills larg r portion o f t h e e it) have been included, yet pr sent book con PRE FACE ix ’ e e t h e e e e e tains in g n ral writ r s matur r work , sel ct d e m e ither fro the pap rs in the hands of his family , or from pi e c e s which have hitherto had only a magazin e e e e e e publication . Th s latter I have r gard d as b aring, ’ h e e o f Sh ai r s e t . on the whol , s al p approval But his e e e e e a re e own corr cted copi s , wh r possibl , her fol i n e t h e lowed ; whilst , cas of manuscripts , which hav e not always r e c e iv e d the last touch e s o f the e e fe w writer, I have v ntur d to omit a very lines . Fo r th e e e not s , glossarial and illustrativ , I am h T f e t e . o mainly ind bted to Rev S inton , M inister n l rr . d e e G en a a . g y, to Mr B ayn of H el nsburgh . My a sk wish , at first , was to M r . S inton for a transliteration into English sounds o f the many Gaelic plac e - nam e s fe w e e e which occur . B ut a sp cim ns prov d that this would be w e ll -nigh practically impossible in t h e case fe s o e e e of languages dif ring d ply in th ir intonation . b e e e e e e And it may f ar d that the ignorant indiff r nc , e d scending sometimes into stupid hostility , with which the b eautiful Celti c dial e cts yet surviving in our islands are regard e d by almost all e xc ept thos e to e - e e whom th y are mother tongu s , would have r ndered translation o f the sound and t h e significanc e o f these relics o f the past an almost us eless and u n valued labour . — I t is also probabl e that some readers in S cotland — - e especially may find the foot not s over numerous . PREFACE e a e o f Here I would pl ad that Poetry , in this g facile e e pros , r quires every assistance to attract and hold e i ts audience . B tter that fifty should find an expl an a o ne tion superfluous , than find a difficulty unsolved . ’ A s the narrative of Principal Sh ai rp s life is in o e ther and more competent hands , it r mains for me now only to offer some brief words on t h e aim and o f e o n e character th se poems , th ir sentiment and e style . Such critical not s , it i s almost a truism to sa e e As y, can never really be ad quat . it is with the s o r so pecial perfume of rose lily, the quality by which f o f e the melody of M ozart dif ers from that B ethoven , the charm with which the childless Reynolds re nd e re d t h e e o f hi s — e e childr n canvas V rgilian magi c , ev n when inte rpre ted by the mast e r-hand o fCardinal N e w man ; Shakespeare an felicity ; of all th e se things t h e e i n de fi nabl e th e e ssence i s , secret inscrutabl .

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