"Oh, Land of the dusky balsam,
And the darling maple-tree,
Where the cedar buds and berries,
And the pine grows strong and free!
My heart is weary and weary
For my own country."
Something in this song recalls, like remembered music, Katherine Tynan's (Mrs. Hinkson) haunting poem, Homesick, of which two lines run:
"But my heart flies back to an Abbey gray
Where the dead sleep sweet, and the living pray."
The professional critic could find many poems of Mr. Scott's with intrinsically greater claim than this lovely little chanson, To B. W. B. (now Mrs. Duncan Campbell Scott), but something in the lilting cadence enchains the reader:
"The world is spinning for change
And life has rapid wings;
Oh, one needs a steady heart
Not to falter while he sings.
"But this is made for my Dear One
When we are far apart,
That she may have, wherever she goes
A song of mine in her heart.
"A song that will serve as an anchor,
Compass, and pilot, and chart,
A song that will bid her remember
That Love is the crown of Art.
* * * * *
"With a star from her open window
When the cuckoo wakes with a start:
Oh, can she ever forget me
With a song of mine in her heart?"