Poem of the day-114: Hunting Song by Sir Walter Scott

Waken, lords and ladies gay;
On the mountain dawns the day;
All the jolly chase is here
With hawk and horse and hunting-spear!
Hounds are in their couples yelling;
Hawks are whistling; horns are knelling;
Merrily, merrily, mingle they;
"Waken, lords and ladies gay";

Waken, lords and ladies gay;
The mist has left the mountain grey;
Springlets in the dawn are streaming;
Diamonds on the brake are gleaming;
And foresters have busy been
To track the buck in thicket green;
Now we come to chant our lay;
"Waken, lords and ladies gay"

Waken, lords and ladies gay;
To the green wood haste away;
We can show you where he lies
Fleet of foot and tall of size;
We can show the marks he made,
When  'gainst the oak his antlers fray'd;
You shall see him brought to bay;
"Waken, lords and ladies gay"

Louder, louder chant the lay,
Waken, lords and ladies gay!
Tell them youth, and mirth, and glee
Run a course as well as we;
Time, stern huntsman!  who can baulk?
Stanch as hound, and fleet as hawk;
Think of this, and rise with day,
Gentle lords and ladies gay.

Write-up on Sir Walter Scott from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Scott

Full Text of Some Poems of Sir Walter Scott from Project Gutenberg:
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext04/wspm10h.htm

Grateful thanks to Project Gutenberg and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.