ET. 36.]

COULD AUGHT OF SONG.

109

May he whose arms shall fauld thy charms,
Possess a leal and true heart;

To him be given to ken the heaven
He grasps in Polly Stewart.

O lovely Polly Stewart!

O charming Polly Stewart !

There's ne'er a flower that blooms in May That's half so sweet as thou art.

COULD AUGHT OF SONG.1

TUNE At Setting Day.

COULD aught of song declare my pains,
Could artful numbers move thee,
The Muse should tell, in laboured strains,
O Mary, how I love thee!

They who but feign a wounded heart
May teach the lyre to languish ;

1 The air to which Burns wrote this song, was the production of Dr. Samuel Howard, organist of St. Clement's Danes in the middle of the last century. It was composed for Ramsay's song, At Setting Day and Rising Morn, and in this connection attained some popularity.

110

WAE IS MY HEART.

But what avails the pride of art,

When wastes the soul with anguish?

Then let the sudden bursting sigh

The heart-felt pang discover; And in the keen, yet tender eye, O read the imploring lover! For well I know thy gentle mind Disdains art's gay disguising, Beyond what fancy e'er refined, The voice of nature prizing.

[1794.

WAE is my heart, and the tear's in my e'e; Lang, lang, joy's been a stranger to me; Forsaken and friendless, my burden I bear, And the sweet voice o' pity ne'er sounds in my

ear.

Love, thou hast pleasures, and deep hae I loved, Love, thou hast sorrows, and sair hae I proved;

ET. 36.]

HERE'S TO THY HEALTH.

111

But this bruisèd heart that now bleeds in my

breast,

I can feel its throbbings will soon be at rest.

Oh, if I were happy, where happy I hae been, Down by yon stream, and yon bonny castlegreen!

For there he is wand'ring, and musing on me, Wha wad soon dry the tear frae Phillis's e'e.

HERE'S TO THY HEALTH, MY BONNY

LASS.

TUNE-Laggan Burn.

HERE'S to thy health, my bonny lass,
Guid-night, and joy be wi' thee;

I'll come nae mair to thy bower-door,
To tell thee that I lo'e thee.
O dinna think, my pretty pink,
But I can live without thee:
I vow and swear I dinna care
How lang ye look about ye.

Thou'rt aye sae free informing me
Thou hast nae mind to marry,

112

HERE'S TO THY HEALTH.

[1794.

I'll be as free informing thee

Nae time hae I to tarry.

I ken thy friends try ilka means,
Frae wedlock to delay thee,
Depending on some higher chance-
But fortune may betray thee.

I ken they scorn my low estate,
But that does never grieve me;
But I'm as free as any he;

Sma' siller will relieve me.

I count my health my greatest wealth,
Sae long as I'll enjoy it;

I'll fear nae scant, I'll bode nae want,
As lang's I get employment.

But far-off fowls hae feathers fair,

And aye until ye try them;

Though they seem fair, still have a care,
They may prove waur than I am.

worse

But at twal at night, when the moon shines

bright,

My dear, I'll come and see thee;

For the man that lo'es his mistress weel,

Nae travel makes him weary.

T. 36.]

MY LADY'S GOWN.

113

ANNA, THY CHARMS.1

TUNE-Bonny Mary.

ANNA, thy charms my bosom fire,
And waste my soul with care;
But, ah! how bootless to admire,
When fated to despair!
Yet in thy presence, lovely fair,
To hope may be forgiven;
For sure 'twere impious to despair,
So much in sight of heaven.

MY LADY'S GOWN, THERE'S GAIRS
UPON'T.

OUT ower yon muir, out ower yon moss. Whare gor-cocks through the heather moor-cocks

pass,

There wons auld Colin's bonny lass,

A lily in a wilderness.

lives

1 This song, with the four which follow it, were contributed by Burns to the sixth volume of Johnson's Museum, published in 1803.