Page images
PDF
EPUB

A towmond o' trouble, should that be my fa',

A night o' guid fellowship sowthers it a’;
When at the blythe end o' our journey at last,
Wha the Deil ever thinks o' the road he has passed?

Blind Chance, let her snapper and stoyte on her way,
Be't to me, be't frae me, e’en let the jade gae;
Come ease, or come travail, come pleasure or pain,
My warst word is, "Welcome, and welcome again!"
1794.

1799.

ΙΟ

15

LASSIE WI' THE LINT-WHITE LOCKS

CHORUS.-Lassie wi' the lint-white locks,

1794.

Bonie lassie, artless lassie,

Wilt thou wi' me tent the flocks?
Wilt thou be my dearie, O?

Now Nature cleeds the flowery lea,
And a' is young and sweet like thee;
O wilt thou share its joys wi' me,

And say thou'll be my dearie, O?

The primrose bank, the wimpling burn,
The cuckoo on the milk-white thorn,
The wanton lambs at early morn,

Shall welcome thee, my dearie, O.

And when the welcome simmer shower
Has cheered ilk drooping little flower,
We'll to the breathing woodbine bower
At sultry noon, my dearie, O.

When Cynthia lights, wi' silver ray,
The weary shearer's hameward way,
Thro' yellow waving fields we'll stray,
And talk o' love, my dearie, O.

And when the howling wintry blast
Disturbs my lassie's midnight rest,
Enclasped to my faithfu' breast,

I'll comfort thee, my dearie, O.

1800.

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]
[blocks in formation]

LAST MAY A BRAW WOOER

Last May a braw wooer cam down the lang glen,
And sair wi' his love he did deave me:

I said there was naething I hated like men;

The deuce gae wi'm to believe me, believe me,
The deuce gae wi'm to believe me!

He spak o' the darts in my bonie black een,
And vowed for my love he was dyin:

I said he might die when he liket for Jean;
The Lord forgie me for lyin, for lyin,
The Lord forgie me for lyin!

A weel-stocket mailen, himsel for the laird,
And marriage aff-hand, were his proffers:

I never loot on that I kenned it or cared;
But thought I might hae waur offers, waur offers,
But thought I might hae waur offers

[blocks in formation]

But what wad ye think? in a fortnight or less-
The Deil tak his taste to gae near her!-
He up the Gate Slack to my black cousin Bess:

Guess ye how, the jad, I could bear her, could bear her!

Guess ye how, the jad, I could bear her!

20

But a' the niest week as I petted wi' care,
I gaed to the tryste o' Dalgarnock,
And wha but my fine fickle lover was there:
I glowered as I'd seen a warlock, a warlock,
I glowered as I'd seen a warlock.

But owre my left shouther I gae him a blink,
Lest neebours might say I was saucy:
My wooer he capered as he'd been in drink,
And vowed I was his dear lassie, dear lassie,
And vowed I was his dear lassie.

I spiered for my cousin fu' couthy and sweet,
Gin she had recovered her hearin,

And how her new shoon fit her auld shachled feet

But, heavens, how he fell a swearin, a swearin!
But, heavens, how he fell a swearin!

He begged, for Gudesake, I wad be his wife,
Or else I wad kill him wi' sorrow;

So, e'en to preserve the poor body in life,

I think I maun wed him to-morrow, to-morrow,

I think I maun wed him to-morrow.

By 1795.

[blocks in formation]

1799.

O, WERT THOU IN THE CAULD BLAST

O, wert thou in the cauld blast,

On yonder lea, on yonder lea,

[blocks in formation]

Or were I in the wildest waste,

Sae black and bare, sae black and bare,
The desert were a paradise

If thou wert there, if thou wert there;
Or were I monarch of the globe,

Wi' thee to reign, wi' thee to reign,
The brightest jewel in my crown

ΤΟ

151

Wad be my queen, wad be my queen.

1796.

1800.

WILLIAM BLAKE

SONG

How sweet I roamed from field to field,
And tasted all the summer's pride,
Till I the Prince of Love beheld,
Who in the sunny beams did glide.

He showed me lilies for my hair,

5

And blushing roses for my brow;
He led me through his gardens fair,

Where all his golden pleasures grow.

With sweet May dews my wings were wet,
And Phoebus fired my vocal rage;

10

He caught me in his silken net,

And shut me in his golden cage.

He loves to sit and hear me sing,

Then, laughing, sports and plays with me;
Then stretches out my golden wing,
And mocks my loss of liberty.

15

1783.

INTRODUCTION

TO "SONGS OF INNOCENCE"

Piping down the valleys wild,
Piping songs of pleasant glee,
On a cloud I saw a child,
And he, laughing, said to me,

"Pipe a song about a lamb !"
So I piped with merry cheer.
"Piper, pipe that song again !"
So I piped: he wept to hear.

"Drop thy pipe, thy happy pipe;
Sing thy songs of happy cheer!"
So I sang the same again,
While he wept with joy to hear.

"Piper, sit thee down, and write
In a book, that all may read."
So he vanished from my sight;
And I plucked a hollow reed,
And I made a rural pen,
And I stained the water clear,
And I wrote my happy songs
Every child may joy to hear.

5

ΙΟ

15

20

1789.

THE ECHOING GREEN
The sun does arise,
And make happy the skies;
The merry bells ring,
To welcome the spring;

The skylark and thrush,

5

The birds of the bush,

Sing louder around

To the bells' cheerful sound;

While our sports shall be seen
On the echoing green.

Old John, with white hair,
Does laugh away care,
Sitting under the oak,
Among the old folk.
They laugh at our play,
And soon they all say,
"Such, such were the joys
When we all, girls and boys,
In our youth-time were seen
On the echoing green."

[blocks in formation]
« PreviousContinue »