'Tis not for me to answer questions here—
Let ev'ry heart its own responses give,
And those to whom their fellow-men are dear,
Bestow the bread by which their souls may live!
JOHN RAMSAY.
The author of "Woodnotes of a Wanderer," John Ramsay, was born at Kilmarnock in 1802. With a limited school education, he was early apprenticed in a carpet manufactory in his native place. He afterwards traded for some years as a retail grocer. During his connexion with the carpet factory, he composed some spirited verses, which were inserted in the Edinburgh Literary Journal; and having subsequently suffered misfortune in business, he resolved to repair his losses by publishing a collected edition of his poetical writings, and personally pushing the sale. For the long period of fifteen years, he travelled over the country, vending his volume of "Woodnotes." This creditable enterprise has been rewarded by his appointment to the agency of a benevolent society in Edinburgh.
FAREWELL TO CRAUFURDLAND.
Thou dark stream slow wending thy deep rocky way,
By foliage oft hid from the bright eye of day,
I 've view'd thee with pleasure, but now must with pain,
Farewell! for I never may see you again.
Ye woods, whence fond fancy a spirit would bring,
That trimm'd the bright pinions of thought's hallow'd wing,
Your beauties will gladden some happier swain;
Farewell! for I never may see you again.
I 've roam'd you, unknown to care's life-sapping sigh,
When prospects seem'd fair and my young hopes were high;
These prospects were false, and those hopes have proved vain;
Farewell! for I never may see you again.
Soon distance shall bid my reft heart undergo
Those pangs that alone the poor exile can know—
Away! like a craven why should I complain?
Farewell! for I never may see you again.