I Hae a wife of my ain,I’ll partake wi’ naebody;I’ll take Cuckold frae nane,I’ll gie Cuckold to naebody. I hae a penny to spend,There–thanks to naebody!I hae naething to lend,I’ll borrow frae naebody. I am naebody’s lord,I’ll be slave to naebody;I hae a gude braid sword,I’ll tak dunts frae naebody. I’ll be merry and free,I’ll […]

[Written during a separation from Mrs. Burns in their honeymoon. Burns was preparing a home at Ellisland; Mrs. Burns was at Mossgiel.–Lang.] [Tune–“Miss Admiral Gordon’s Strathspey.”] Of a’ the airts the wind can blaw,I dearly like the west,For there the bonie lassie lives,The lassie I lo’e best: There’s wild-woods grow, and rivers row,And mony a […]

In this strange land, this uncouth clime,A land unknown to prose or rhyme;Where words ne’er cross’t the Muse’s heckles,Nor limpit in poetic shackles:A land that Prose did never view it,Except when drunk he stacher’t thro’ it;Here, ambush’d by the chimla cheek,Hid in an atmosphere of reek,I hear a wheel thrum i’ the neuk,I hear it–for […]

Ellisland, Nithsdale, July 27th, 1788. My godlike friend–nay, do not stare,You think the phrase is odd-like;But God is love, the saints declare,Then surely thou art god-like. And is thy ardour still the same?And kindled still at Anna?Others may boast a partial flame,But thou art a volcano! Ev’n Wedlock asks not love beyondDeath’s tie-dissolving portal;But thou, […]

Glenriddel Hermitage, June 28th, 1788. Thou whom chance may hither lead,Be thou clad in russet weed,Be thou deckt in silken stole,Grave these maxims on thy soul. Life is but a day at most,Sprung from night, in darkness lost:Hope not sunshine every hour,Fear not clouds will always lour. Happiness is but a name,Make content and ease […]

[Requesting a Favour] When Nature her great master-piece design’d,And fram’d her last, best work, the human mind,Her eye intent on all the mazy plan,She form’d of various parts the various Man. Then first she calls the useful many forth;Plain plodding Industry, and sober Worth:Thence peasants, farmers, native sons of earth,And merchandise’ whole genus take their […]

Tune–“Killiecrankie.” O Wha will to Saint Stephen’s House,To do our errands there, man?O wha will to Saint Stephen’s HouseO’ th’ merry lads of Ayr, man? Or will we send a man o’ law?Or will we send a sodger?Or him wha led o’er Scotland a’The meikle Ursa-Major?[1] Come, will ye court a noble lord,Or buy a […]

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 despairSo much in sight of heaven.

Tune–“My love is lost to me.” O, were I on Parnassus hill,Or had o’ Helicon my fill,That I might catch poetic skill,To sing how dear I love thee!But Nith maun be my Muse’s well,My Muse maun be thy bonie sel’,On Corsincon I’ll glowr and spell,And write how dear I love thee. Then come, sweet Muse, […]

Tune–“Seventh of November.” The day returns, my bosom burns,The blissful day we twa did meet:Tho’ winter wild in tempest toil’d,Ne’er summer-sun was half sae sweet.Than a’ the pride that loads the tide,And crosses o’er the sultry line;Than kingly robes, than crowns and globes,Heav’n gave me more–it made thee mine! While day and night can bring […]

[For the Death of Her Son.] Fate gave the word, the arrow sped,And pierc’d my darling’s heart;And with him all the joys are fledLife can to me impart. By cruel hands the sapling drops,In dust dishonour’d laid;So fell the pride of all my hopes,My age’s future shade. The mother-linnet in the brakeBewails her ravish’d young;So […]

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,And never brought to mind?Should auld acquaintance be forgot,And auld lang syne! Chorus.–For auld lang syne, my dear,For auld lang syne.We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,For auld lang syne. And surely ye’ll be your pint stowp!And surely I’ll be mine!And we’ll tak a cup o’kindness yet,For auld lang syne.For auld, […]

Louis, what reck I by thee,Or Geordie on his ocean?Dyvor, beggar louns to me,I reign in Jeanie’s bosom! Let her crown my love her law,And in her breast enthrone me,Kings and nations–swith awa’!Reif randies, I disown ye! It Is Na, Jean, Thy Bonie Face It is na, Jean, thy bonie face,Nor shape that I admire;Altho’ […]

[On Nithside] Thou whom chance may hither lead,Be thou clad in russet weed,Be thou deckt in silken stole,Grave these counsels on thy soul. Life is but a day at most,Sprung from night,–in darkness lost;Hope not sunshine ev’ry hour,Fear not clouds will always lour. As Youth and Love with sprightly dance,Beneath thy morning star advance,Pleasure with […]

Humid seal of soft affections,Tenderest pledge of future bliss,Dearest tie of young connections,Love’s first snowdrop, virgin kiss! Speaking silence, dumb confession,Passion’s birth, and infant’s play,Dove-like fondness, chaste concession,Glowing dawn of future day! Sorrowing joy, Adieu’s last action,(Lingering lips must now disjoin),What words can ever speak affectionSo thrilling and sincere as thine!

Go, fetch to me a pint o’ wine,And fill it in a silver tassie;That I may drink before I go,A service to my bonie lassie.The boat rocks at the pier o’ Leith;Fu’ loud the wind blaws frae the Ferry;The ship rides by the Berwick-law,And I maun leave my bonie Mary. The trumpets sound, the banners […]

For lords or kings I dinna mourn,E’en let them die–for that they’re born:But oh! prodigious to reflec’!A Towmont, sirs, is gane to wreck!O Eighty-eight, in thy sma’ space,What dire events hae taken place!Of what enjoyments thou hast reft us!In what a pickle thou has left us! The Spanish empire’s tint a head,And my auld teethless, […]

[A Poem In Embryo] Thou, Nature, partial Nature, I arraign;Of thy caprice maternal I complain. The peopled fold thy kindly care have found,The horned bull, tremendous, spurns the ground;The lordly lion has enough and more,The forest trembles at his very roar;Thou giv’st the ass his hide, the snail his shell,The puny wasp, victorious, guards his […]

Dweller in yon dungeon dark,Hangman of creation! mark,Who in widow-weeds appears,Laden with unhonour’d years,Noosing with care a bursting purse,Baited with many a deadly curse? Strophe View the wither’d Beldam’s face;Can thy keen inspection traceAught of Humanity’s sweet, melting grace?Note that eye, ’tis rheum o’erflows;Pity’s flood there never rose,See these hands ne’er stretched to save,Hands that […]

Chorus.–Robin shure in hairst,I shure wi’ him.Fient a heuk had I,Yet I stack by him. I gaed up to Dunse,To warp a wab o’ plaiden,At his daddie’s yett,Wha met me but Robin:Robin shure, etc. Was na Robin bauld,Tho’ I was a cotter,Play’d me sic a trick,An’ me the El’er’s dochter!Robin shure, etc. Robin promis’d meA’ […]