There, watching high the least alarms, Thy rough, rude fortress gleams afar, Like some bold veteran grey in arms, And marked with many a seamy scar: The ponderous wall and massy bar, Grim rising o’er the rugged rock, Have oft withstood assailing war, And oft repelled the invader’s shock. With awe-struck thought, and pitying tears I view that noble, stately dome, Where Scotia’s kings of other years, Famed heroes! had their royal home. Alas, how changed the times to come! Their royal name low in the dust! Their hapless race wild-wandering roam, Though rigid law cries out, ’Twas just! Wild beats my heart to trace your steps, Whose ancestors, in days of yore, Through hostile ranks and ruined gaps Old Scotia’s bloody lion bore: Even I who sing in rustic lore, Haply, _my_ sires have left their shed, And faced grim danger’s loudest roar, Bold following where your fathers led! Edina! Scotia’s darling seat! All hail thy palaces and towers! Where once beneath a monarch’s feet Sat Legislation’s sovereign powers! From marking wildly scattered flowers, As on the banks of Ayr I strayed, And singing, lone, the lingering hours, I shelter in thy honoured shade. PART II THE NEW TOWN CHAPTER VII THE BUILDING OF THE NEW TOWN: A STAMPEDE FOR FRESH AIR Even thus, methinks, a city reared should be, Yea, an imperial city that might hold Five times a hundred noble towns in fee, And either with their might of Babel old, Or the rich Roman pomp of empery, Might stand compare, highest in arts enrolled, Highest in arms, brave tenement for the free Who never crouch to thrones, nor sin for gold. Thus should her towers be raised; with vicinage Of clear bold hills that curve her very streets, As if to vindicate, ’mid choicest seats Of Art, abiding Nature’s majesty; And the broad sea beyond, in calm or rage Chainless alike, and teaching liberty. ARTHUR HALLAM, _Sonnet to Edinburgh_.