The Lady of the Lake

’Blithe were it then to wander here! 
But now—­beshrew yon nimble deer—­
Like that same hermit’s, thin and spare,
The copse must give my evening fare;
Some mossy bank my couch must be,
Some rustling oak my canopy. 
Yet pass we that; the war and chase
Give little choice of resting-place;—­
A summer night in greenwood spent
Were but to-morrow’s merriment: 
But hosts may in these wilds abound,
Such as are better missed than found;
To meet with Highland plunderers here
Were worse than loss of steed or deer.—­
I am alone;—­my bugle-strain
May call some straggler of the train;
Or, fall the worst that may betide,
Ere now this falchion has been tried.’