ÆT. 34.] O LUVE WILL VENTURE IN. 19 While the life beats in my bosom, Thou shalt mix in ilka throe; Not the bee upon the blossom, All beneath the simmer moon; Not the poet in the moment Kens the pleasure, feels the rapture O LUVE WILL VENTURE IN. TUNE-The Posie. O LUVE will venture in where it daurna weel be seen; O luve will venture in where wisdom ance has been; But I will down yon river rove, among the wood sae green And a' to pu' a posie to my ain dear May. 20 O LUVE WILL VENTURE IN. [1792. The primrose I will pu', the firstling o' the year, And I will pu' the pink, the emblem o' my dear; For she's the pink o' womankind, and blooms without a peer And a' to be a posie to my ain dear May. I'll pu' the budding rose, when Phoebus peeps in view, For it's like a baumy kiss o' her sweet bonny mou'; The hyacinth for constancy, wi' its unchanging blue And a' to be a posie to my ain dear May. The lily it is pure, and the lily it is fair, there; The daisy's for simplicity and unaffected air And a' to be a posie to my ain dear May. The hawthorn I will pu', wi' its locks o' siller gray, Where, like an aged man, it stands at break of day; But the songster's nest within the bush I winna tak away And a' to be a posie to my ain dear May. ET. 34.] THE BANKS OF DOON. 21 The woodbine I will pu' when the e'ening-star is near, And the diamond draps o' dew shall be her e'en sae clear; The violet's for modesty, which weel she fa's to wear has a right And a' to be a posie to my ain dear May. I'll tie the posie round wi' the silken band o' luve, And I'll place it in her breast, and I'll swear by a' above, That to my latest draught o' life the band shall ne'er remove And this shall be a posie to my ain dear May. THE BANKS OF DOON. TUNE-Caledonian Hunt's Delight. YE banks and braes o' bonny Doon, How can ye chant, ye little birds, And I sae weary fu' o' care! 22 WILLIE WASTLE. [1792. Thou'lt break my heart, thou warbling bird, That wantons through the flowering thorn; Thou minds me o' departed joys, Aft hae I roved by bonny Doon, To see the rose and woodbine twine; WILLIE WASTLE. TUNE-The Eight Men of Moidart. WILLIE WASTLE dwalt on Tweed, The spot they called it Linkum-doddie; 1 This, it will be observed, is a second version of the ballad which Burns produced in 1787, upon the sad fate of Miss Peggy K—. Although none of Burns's songs has been more popular than this, one cannot but regret its superseding so entirely the original ballad, which in touching simplicity of expression is certainly much superior. ET. 34.] WILLIE WASTLE. Willie was a wabster guid, Could stown a clew wi' ony bodie. 23 weaver stolen He had a wife was dour and din, harsh and noisy O Tinkler Madgie was her mither; Sic a wife as Willie had, I wadna gie a button for her. She has an e'e she has but ane, A clapper-tongue wad deave a miller: A whiskin' beard about her mou', besides deafen Her nose and chin they threaten itherSic a wife as Willie had, I wadna gie a button for her. She's bough-houghed, she's hein-shinned,1 She has a hump upon her breast, The twin o' that upon her shouther — shoulder Sic a wife as Willie had, I wadna gie a button for her. Auld baudrons by the ingle sits, And wi' her loof her face a-washin'; But Willie's wife is nae sae trig, the cat palm She dights her grunzie wi' a wipes — pig-mouth hushion; 1 bow-legged: thin-shinned (?) cushion |