led

TIME AND TIDE.

As I was walkin' on the strand,
I spied an auld man sit
On ane auld rock; and aye the waves
Cam washin' to its fit.
And aye his lips gaed mutterin',
And his ee was dull and blae.
As I cam near, he luik'd at me,
But this was a' his say:
"Robbie and Jeannie war twa bonnie bairns,
And they played thegither upo' the shore:
Up cam the tide 'tween the mune and the sterns,
And pairtit the twa wi' an eerie roar."

What can the auld man mean, quo' I,
Sittin' upo' the auld rock?
The tide creeps up wi' moan and cry,
And a hiss 'maist like a mock.
The words he mutters maun be the en'
O' a weary dreary sang--
A deid thing floatin' in his brain,
That the tide will no lat gang.
"Robbie and Jeannie war twa bonnie bairns,
And they played thegither upo' the shore:
Up cam the tide 'tween the mune and the sterns,
And pairtit the twa wi' an eerie roar."

What pairtit them, auld man? I said;
Did the tide come up ower strang?
'Twas a braw deith for them that gaed,
Their troubles warna lang.
Or was ane ta'en, and the ither left--
Ane to sing, ane to greet?
It's sair, richt sair, to be bereft,
But the tide is at yer feet.
"Robbie and Jeannie war twa bonnie bairns,
And they played thegither upo' the shore:
Up cam the tide 'tween the mune and the sterns,
And pairtit the twa wi' an eerie roar."

Maybe, quo' I, 'twas Time's gray sea,
Whase droonin' 's waur to bide;
But Death's a diver, seekin' ye
Aneath its chokin' tide.
And ye'll luik in ane anither's ee
Triumphin' ower gray Time.
But never a word he answered me,
But ower wi' his dreary chime--
"Robbie and Jeannie war twa bonnie bairns,
And they played thegither upo' the shore:
Up cam the tide 'tween the mune and the sterns,
And pairtit the twa wi' an eerie roar."

Maybe, auld man, said I, 'twas Change
That crap atween the twa?
Hech! that's a droonin' awfu' strange,
Ane waur than ane and a'.
He spak nae mair. I luik't and saw
That the auld lips cudna gang.
The tide unseen took him awa--
Left me to end his sang:
"Robbie and Jeannie war twa bonnie bairns,
And they played thegither upo' the shore:
Up cam the tide 'tween the mune and the sterns,
And tuik them whaur pairtin' shall be no more."

Before he had finished reading, the refrain had become so familiar to
Alec, that he