Poems (Campbell)/To Miss Sophia Headle

TO MISS SOPHIA HEADLE.

Say, dear Sophia! gentle friend,
Wilt thou to Orkney's sea-beat strand
Again thy wand'ring footsteps bend,
And leave fair England's happy land?

When o'er the murm'ring billows borne,
As whisp'ring breezes waft you there,
Wilt thou with fond remembrance turn
To her, that did thy pillow share?

When summer clothes each hill and dell
Of Ronaldsha, with verdant sweets;
And Echo, from her sacred cell,
The murmurs of the wave repeats;

As through our favourite haunts you stray,
Will mem'ry waken in thy mind,
And fancy by thy side pourtray,
The friend whom thou hast left behind!

And when the merry Lammas Fair
Shall bid each country belle and beau
To Kirkwall's crowded street repair,
Their wond'rous finery to show;

There, while the lively dance you join,
Or list to music's melting strain—
Say, will one passing thought be mine
Amid the gay and jocund train?

How oft, when wand'ring by the shore
To catch the gentle ocean-breeze,
In many a sigh my soul I pour
To thee, across the murm'ring seas!

I think upon thy tender cares,
Sophia, with a tearful smile;
Pleasure and pain alternate shares
The feelings of my breast the while.

'Twas thine, my sorrowing soul to soothe,
When rack'd and torn by many a grief,
My rugged, slipp'ry path to smooth,
And give my swelling heart relief.

Farewell, my friend! may peace be thine,
Content, and health, and love, and joy;
And never may a grief like mine,
Dear girl! thy bosom's peace alloy!