The captive Bird was gone;--to cliff or moor Perchance had flown, delivered by the storm; Or he had pined, and sunk to feed the worm: Him found we not: but, climbing a tall tower, There saw, impaved with rude fidelity 5 Of art mosaic, in a roofless floor,[887] An Eagle with stretched wings, but beamless eye-- An Eagle that could neither wail nor soar. Effigy[888] of the Vanished[889]--(shall I dare To call thee so?) or symbol of fierce deeds 10 And of the towering courage which past times Rejoiced in--take, whate'er thou be, a share,[890] Not undeserved, of the memorial rhymes That animate my way where'er it leads! Lieutenant-Colonel M'Dougal of Dunollie wrote to me (October 1883) that "the mosaic picture of an eagle--if it may be called so--still exists, though it is rather a rude work of art. I believe it was executed by a gardener, who was here about the time of Wordsworth's visit. It was made of small stones, and is now a good deal overgrown with weeds, moss, etc., as the second story of the old ruin is open to the weather. An eagle was for many years kept in a cage, made against a wall of the ruin, and this no doubt was the cause of the rude picture being made."--ED. FOOTNOTES: [887] 1835. Espied an old mosaic effigy Set in a roofless chamber's pavement floor, MS. [888] 1837. Shade of the poor Departed ... MS. Effigies of the Vanished ... 1835. [889] This ingenious piece of workmanship, as I afterwards learned, had been executed for their own amusement by some labourers employed about the place.--W. W. 1835. [890] 1837. ... or symbol of past times, That towering courage, and the savage deeds Those times were proud of, take Thou too a share, 1835. Their towering courage, and the savage deeds Which they were proud of, ... MS. XXVI THE DUNOLLY EAGLE Not to the clouds, not to the cliff, he flew; But when a storm, on sea or mountain bred, Came and delivered him, alone he sped Into the castle-dungeon's darkest mew. Now, near his master's house in open view 5 He dwells, and hears indignant tempests howl, Kennelled and chained. Ye tame domestic fowl,[891] Beware of him! Thou, saucy cockatoo, Look to thy plumage and thy life!--The roe, Fleet as the west wind, is for _him_ no quarry; 10 Balanced in ether he will never tarry, Eyeing the sea's blue depths. Poor Bird! even so Doth man of brother man a creature make That clings to slavery for its own sad sake. FOOTNOTES: [891] 1835. ... villatic Fowl, MS. XXVII WRITTEN IN A BLANK LEAF OF MACPHERSON'S OSSIAN[892]