The Complete Works of Robert Burns Part 157

We'll gae down by Cluden side, Thro' the hazels spreading wide, O'er the waves that sweetly glide To the moon sae clearly.

III.

Yonder Cluden's silent towers, Where at moons.h.i.+ne midnight hours, O'er the dewy bending flowers, Fairies dance so cheery.

IV.

Ghaist nor bogle shalt thou fear; Thou'rt to love and heaven sae dear, Nocht of ill may come thee near, My bonnie dearie.

V.

Fair and lovely as thou art, Thou hast stown my very heart; I can die--but canna part-- My bonnie dearie!

Ca' the yowes to the knowes, Ca' them whare the heather growes; Ca' them where the burnie rowes-- My bonnie dearie!

CCXXVI.

SHE SAYS SHE LOVES ME BEST OF A'.

Tune--"_Onagh's Waterfall._"

[The lady of the flaxen ringlets has already been noticed: she is described in this song with the accuracy of a painter, and more than the usual elegance of one: it is needless to add her name, or to say how fine her form and how resistless her smiles.]

I.

Sae flaxen were her ringlets, Her eyebrows of a darker hue, Bewitchingly o'er-arching Twa laughin' een o' bonnie blue.

Her smiling sae wyling, Wad make a wretch forget his woe; What pleasure, what treasure, Unto these rosy lips to grow: Such was my Chloris' bonnie face, When first her bonnie face I saw; And ay my Chloris' dearest charm, She says she lo'es me best of a'.

II.

Like harmony her motion; Her pretty ankle is a spy, Betraying fair proportion, Wad mak a saint forget the sky.

Sae warming, sae charming, Her faultless form and gracefu' air; Ilk feature--auld Nature Declar'd that she could do nae mair: Hers are the willing chains o' love, By conquering beauty's sovereign law; And ay my Chloris' dearest charm, She says she lo'es me best of a'.

III.

Let others love the city, And gaudy show at sunny noon; Gie me the lonely valley, The dewy eve, and rising moon; Fair beaming, and streaming, Her silver light the boughs amang; While falling, recalling, The amorous thrush concludes his sang; There, dearest Chloris, wilt thou rove By wimpling burn and leafy shaw, And hear my vows o' truth and love, And say thou lo'es me best of a'?

CCXXVII.

SAW YE MY PHELY.

[QUASI DICAT PHILLIS.]

Tune--"_When she came ben she bobbit._"

[The despairing swain in this song was Stephen Clarke, musician, and the young lady whom he persuaded Burns to accuse of inconstancy and coldness was Phillis M'Murdo.]

I.

O saw ye my dear, my Phely?

O saw ye my dear, my Phely?

She's down i' the grove, she's wi' a new love!

She winna come hame to her w.i.l.l.y.

II.

What says she, my dearest, my Phely?

What says she, my dearest, my Phely?

She lets thee to wit that she has thee forgot, And for ever disowns thee, her w.i.l.l.y.

III.

O had I ne'er seen thee, my Phely!

O had I ne'er seen thee, my Phely!

As light as the air, and fause as thou's fair, Thou's broken the heart o' thy w.i.l.l.y.

CCXXVIII.

HOW LANG AND DREARY IS THE NIGHT.

Tune--"_Cauld Kail in Aberdeen._"

[On comparing this lyric, corrected for Thomson, with that in the Museum, it will be seen that the former has more of elegance and order: the latter quite as much nature and truth: but there is less of the new than of the old in both.]

I.

How lang and dreary is the night, When I am frae my dearie; I restless lie frae e'en to morn, Though I were ne'er sae weary.

For oh! her lanely nights are lang; And oh! her dreams are eerie; And oh, her widow'd heart is sair, That's absent frae her dearie.

II.

When I think on the lightsome days I spent wi' thee my dearie; And now what seas between us roar-- How can I be but eerie?