Where freshening breezes sweep—
The noble antlered race
Bedewed that tread the hills with glee,
To the Bard rehearse the story
Of these things I hear and see.
One of the most admired of Livingston’s poems is that on the achievements of the Highland regiments under Sir Colin Campbell in the Crimean War. As much of its beauty consists in a sort of proverbial form of expression, of which the bard was a consummate master, and in a rhythm of consonantal rhymes, much of what is powerful in the original becomes quite prosaic when rendered literally into English. Here is the first half of the poem, which may indicate something of its manner:—
Alma.
Tidings of awe came to my ear—
An ominous threat that war was near;
I sought out Albin’s central height,