Muse had given
To me, for, wrought wi' toil,
She bade, wi' its simple tones,
The weary hours beguile.

Lang had it been my secret pride,
Though nane its strains might hear;
For ne'er till then trembled its chords
To woo a list'ning ear.
The forest echoes to its voice
Fu' sad, had aft complain'd,
Whan, mingling wi' its wayward strain,
Murmur'd the midnight wind.

Harsh were its tones, yet Myra praised
The wild and artless strain;
In pride I strung my lyre anew,
An' waked its chords again.
The sound was sad, the sparkling tear
Arose in Myra's e'e,
An' mair I lo'ed that artless drap,
Than a' the warl' could gie.

To wean the heart frae warldly grief,
Frae warldly moil an' care,
Could maiden smile a lovelier smile,
Or drap a tend'rer tear?
But now she 's gane,--dark, dark an' drear,
Her lang, lang sleep maun be;
But, ah! mair drear the years o' life
That still remain to me!

Whan o'er the raging ocean wave
The gloom o' night is spread,
If lemes the twinkling beacon-light,
The sailor's heart is glad;
In hope he steers, but, 'mid the storm,
If sinks the waning ray,
Dees a' that hope, an' fails his saul,
O'erpress'd wi' loads o' wae.

ALEXANDER MACANSH.

The author of "The Social Curse, and other Poems," Alexander Macansh,
was born at Dunfermline in 1803. At the age of eleven apprenticed to a
flaxdresser, he followed this occupation during a period of thirty-eight
years, of which the greater portion was spent in Harribrae factory, in
his native town. During the intervals of his occupation, which demanded
his attention about fourteen hours daily, he contrived to become
familiar with British and continental authors, and with the more
esteemed Latin classics. He likewise formed an intimate acquaintance
with mathematical science. Of decided poetical tastes, he contributed
verses to _Tait's Magazine_, the _Edinburgh Literary Journal_, and the
_Scotsman_ newspaper. In 1850, he published, by subscription, his volume
of poems, entitled "The Social Curse, and other Poems," which has
secured him a local reputation. Continuing to reside in Dunfermline, he
has, for several years, possessed a literary connexion with some of the
provincial newspapers, and has delivered lectures on science to the
district institutions. To Mr Joseph Paton,