Hear what Highland Nora said, - <br />'The Earlie's son I will not wed, <br />Should all the race of nature die, <br />And none be left but he and I. <br />For all the gold, for all the gear, <br />And all the lands both far and near, <br />That ever valour lost o won, <br />I would not wed the Earlie's son.' - <br /> <br />'A maiden's vows,' old Callum spoke, <br />'Are lightly made and lightly broke; <br />The heather on the mountain's height <br />Begins to bloom in purple light; <br />The frost-wind soon shall sweep away <br />That lustre deep from glen and brae; <br />Yet Nora, ere its bloom be gone, <br />May blithely wed the Earlie's son.' - <br /> <br />'The swan,' she said, 'the lake's clear breast <br />May barter for the eagle's nest; <br />The Awe's fierce stream may backward turn, <br />Ben-Cruaichan fall, and crush Kilchurn; <br />Our kilted clans, when blood is high, <br />Before their foes may turn and fly; <br />But I, were all these marvels done, <br />Would never wed the Earlie's son.' <br /> <br />Still in the water-lily's shade <br />Her wonted nest the wild-swan made; <br />Ben-Cruaichan stands as fast as ever, <br />Still downward foams the Awe's fierce river; <br />To shun the clash of foeman's steel, <br />No Highland brogue has turn'd the heel; <br />But Nora's heart is lost and won, <br />She's wedded to the Earlie's son!<br /><br />Sir Walter Scott<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/nora-s-vow/
