174 Unpublished Verses by Sir W. Scott, by Jas. B. Kerr. 



Mortals in vain — so says the Text 



Seek grapes from briars from thistles com 



Say can fair Wollenlus expect 

 Fruit from a withered Scottish thorn 



Time once there was alas but now 

 That time returns not now again 



The shades upon the Dial cast 



Proceed but pass not back again 



Yet in this land of lengthened day 



Where april wear (sic) the autumns huet 



Awakened by the genial ray 

 Thoughts of past visions strive to blow 



The blood growsj warm the nerves expand 

 The stiffened fingers take the pen 



And 



[In the transcript revised from the original, the i's are not dotted ; 

 and there is no punctuation except a comma and a dash. The variations, 

 obliterated by the author, are appended in. the Notes.] 



JVbte on the Countess Wolkonshy. 



In consequence of a copy of these fragmentary verses having 

 been inserted in tbe Bristol Times and Mirror, Mr Hardy re- 

 ceived a communication on tbe subject from Miss Scarth, the 

 Kectory, Wrington, Somerset, dated October 17, 1879, of which 

 the following is the purport : — 



"In the grounds of Villa Wolkonsky, in Eome, is an upright 

 stone erected to Sir Walter Scott's memory. This inscription is 

 in French. I regret I did not copy it, but the idea was : ' The 

 Lamp which brightened our winter evenings is now extin- 

 guished.' Countess Wolkonsky is mentioned in * A Sister's 

 Story,' by Mrs Augustus Craven, in the year 1832, at which 

 time she seems to have gathered round her people of cultivation 

 and refinement." 



Miss Scarth kindly undertook to make inquiries at Eome, and 

 communicated her success in February 26, 1880. " I said that 

 perhaps I should be able to procure a copy of it through a 

 friend now resident there. In a letter received from her this 

 morning she says : — ' The monument, which is a piUar about 



* Thfc word "indelibly " is obliterated here, f Originally : " Where April 

 wear autumnal wreath bloom;" and the latest conclusion had ended "the 

 autumns glow. ' ' % Originally ' ' glows." 



