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ADDRESS TO KILCHURN CASTLE

UPON LOCH AWE

Begun 1803.—­Published 1827

“From the top of the hill a most impressive scene opened upon our view,—­a ruined Castle on an Island (for an Island the flood had made it) [A] at some distance from the shore, backed by a Cove of the Mountain Cruachan, down which came a foaming stream.  The Castle occupied every foot of the Island that was visible to us, appearing to rise out of the Water,—­mists rested upon the mountain side, with spots of sunshine; there was a mild desolation in the low-grounds, a solemn grandeur in the mountains, and the Castle was wild, yet stately—­not dismantled of Turrets—­nor the walls broken down, though obviously a ruin.”

’Extract from the Journal of my Companion.’—­W.  W. 1827.

[The first three lines were thrown off at the moment I first caught sight of the Ruin, from a small eminence by the wayside; the rest was added many years after.—­I.F.]

  Child of loud-throated War! the mountain Stream
  Roars in thy hearing; but thy hour of rest
  Is come, and thou art silent in thy age;
  Save when the wind sweeps by and sounds are caught
  Ambiguous, neither wholly thine nor theirs. 5
  Oh! there is life that breathes not; Powers there are
  That touch each other to the quick in modes
  Which the gross world no sense hath to perceive,
  No soul to dream of.  What art Thou, from care
  Cast off—­abandoned by thy rugged Sire, 10
  Nor by soft Peace adopted; though, in place
  And in dimension, such that thou might’st seem
  But a mere footstool to yon sovereign Lord,
  Huge Cruachan, (a thing that meaner hills
  Might crush, nor know that it had suffered harm;) 15
  Yet he, not loth, in favour of thy claims
  To reverence, suspends his own; submitting
  All that the God of Nature hath conferred,
  All that he holds [1] in common with the stars,
  To the memorial majesty of Time 20
  Impersonated in thy calm decay!

  Take, then, thy seat, Vicegerent unreproved! 
  Now, while a farewell gleam of evening light
  Is fondly lingering on thy shattered front,
  Do thou, in turn, be paramount; and rule 25
  Over the pomp and beauty of a scene
  Whose mountains, torrents, lake, and woods, unite
  To pay thee homage; and with these are joined,
  In willing admiration and respect,
  Two Hearts, which in thy presence might be called 30
  Youthful as Spring.—­Shade of departed Power,
  Skeleton of unfleshed humanity,
  The chronicle were welcome that should call
  Into the compass of distinct regard
  The toils and struggles of thy infant