And spare yon bonny tender bud Long has she hung her drooping head, But transient sunbeams, through the cloud, Still kept my flower alive. One sweetly scented summer eve To yonder bower I stray'd; While little birds from ev'ry bough Their music wild convey'd. The sunbeam lean'd across the shower; 'Twas then I saw this lovely flower, Her border was the purple tint The dew-drops glist'ning on her face, But frost, on cold misfortune's wing, That wounded bark will never close How can ye blow, relentless winds, THE MOON WAS A-WAINING. THE moon was a-waining, The tempest was over; Fair was the maiden, And fond was the lover. But the snow was so deep, Soft was the bed She had made for her lover And embroider'd the cover. And his canopy grander ! And sounder he sleeps Where the hill-foxes wander. Alas! pretty maiden! What sorrows attend you! I see you sit shivering With lights at your window. Ere your arms shall enclose him; For still, still, he lies, With a wreath on his bosom. How painful the task The sad tidings to tell you! An orphan you were Ere this misery befell you. Where the dead tapers hover, So cold, cold, and wan, Lies the corpse of your lover! MARY AT HER LOVER'S GRAVE. AIR-Banks of the Dee. How swift flew the time when I stray'd with my Jamie. On flower-fringed valleys by Yarrow's fair stream! But all I held precious is now taken from me! Reproach, shame, and ruin, before and behind me, Had Jamie been by me in every extreme. But there, where my heart I had treasur'd for ever! Where all my affections on earth were bestow'd, With one fatal stroke to destroy; and to sever Two bosoms with purest affection that glow'd! Now dim is the eye that beam'd beauty and splendour! And cold was the heart that was constant and ten der; The sweet cherry lips to the worm must surrender, With wisdom, and truth, that delightfully flow'd. Hence, comfort and pleasure! I cannot endure ye; Here, on this new grave, will I bid you adieu : My reason is bleeding, and here will I bury That mirror, where clearly my misery I view. O Thou! who the days of all mankind hast measur'd! A fate with my Jamie I'll cheerfully hazard! Then drive me distracted to roam in the desart, Or bear me to him, that our joys may renew. Else, even in death, my fond arms shall enclose him! And my dust mix with his as we moulder away: For here, with my hands, will I dig to his bosom, Where closely I'll cling, till the dawn of the day. When the moon and the stars with a sob shall expire, And the sun burst away like a flash of pale fire Then, higher and higher, we'll jointly aspire To friendship that never shall end nor decay. BONNY DUNDEE. TUNE-Comin' thro' the Rye. O WILL you gang down to the bush i' the meadow. Your daddy an' mammy wi' me winna dread you; An' by the fair hand through the flowers I will lead you, An' sing you "the bonnets o' bonny Dundee ?" Wi' heart an' wi' hand, my dear lad, I'll gang wi' thee, My daddy and mammy think nought to belie thee, I ken ye'll do naething but kiss me an' lead me, An' sing me "the bonnets o' bonny Dundee.' O, why fled thy angel, poor lovely Macmillen, Who rifled that blossom. an' left it to die? |