Our thanks to John Henderson for this short biography...

'Tis A Beautiful World
from
'A VOLUME OF VERSES' - Serious, Humorous and Satirical (1866)
by Reverend William Buchanan, B.A., (1821-1866)
Minister of Kilmaurs Parish Church, Ayrshire (1844-1851)
Editor of 'The Ayr Observer' (1857-1866)

'Tis a Beautiful World! Whatever the time
We look upon Nature - in sunshine or shade,
In storm or in calm, in the Winter or Prime,
Or when Summer flowers flush, or when Autumn leaves fade.
The eye that delights o'er the landscape to range,
Or scan the bright glories that sparkle on high,
May own to fatigue as they endlessly change;
Yet still it is Beauty, in Earth, Sea, or Sky !

There is Beauty in Life ! Where the lowly ones dwell,
Or the great ones have planted the parterre or hall;
Where the young their fond longings so gleefully tell,
And the old their past pleasures as pensive recall.
In Joy's loudest music, in Grief's deepest wail,
Or Love whose strange medley of both is combined -
In Life's every scene, every season, and tale,
Some snatches of beauty you surely shall find.

Yet o'er Nature as Life, there be breasts that unfold
No rapturous thought, no sensation of bliss,
And eyes that look stony, and tearless, and cold
On a scene so resplendent, so lovely as this.
And why ? 'Tis not Nature and Life are to blame;
Their wonderful issues for ever they roll;
To the blindly insensate the sights are the same -
'Tis the lookers who want but the Beautiful Soul.

Then, Fortune, take all of thy favours away-
How little, at best, of true joy they impart ! -
But heaven, preserve us, we earnestly pray,
The clear thoughtful spirit, the warm loving heart !
Oh what wealth in such treasures ! Nay, feeble the word,
For wealth may be squandered, and treasures run waste;
But these, while we spend them the most, most we hoard,
And the more that we scatter, the longer they last.