From Fox's Earth 



pool, to vary life. Of such forms, the mainly 

 lochless border streams know nothing. 



Up the Tay, beyond the tacksman's limits, are 

 magic waters. Lakes abound. There can be 

 few hills of any height that do not possess one. 

 Some command quite a number. Far and near, 

 the gleam is everywhere, breaking and lighting 

 the brown heath. In them is the gaiety of the 

 scene. More there than on the grouse moor ; 

 since heath enough grows in the south. Their 

 presence marks the difference from the borders, 

 dispels the melancholy which is only not sadness. 

 The Highlands might be called land of the 

 mountain and the lake. Removing the mountain 

 common to both as compared with the land of 

 the stream, land of the lake. 



Scott, who made Deloraine ride by stream- 

 sides, makes Fitz- James ride by lakes. The 

 streams might be neglected, except in so far as 

 they string the lakes together. The scene is 

 changed. Genius nor atmosphere are any longer 

 the same. Lake after lake is passed. A lake 

 seems ever in sight. The horse pants along the 

 connecting stream only to bear its rider to an- 

 other lake. One, two, three, in a string. Last of 

 the three gives the title, " The Lady of the Lake." 



These lakes lie in basins of the poem and 

 gleam out in the verse. From the height of any 

 stanza one is sure to be in sight. The sparkle is 

 on the action as the figures pass along the shore. 



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