Page:The poetical works of Robert Burns.djvu/300

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THE SONGS OF BURNS.

ADOWN WINDING NITH.

TUNE—'THE MUCKIN O' GEORDIE'S BYRE.'

Adown winding Nith I did wander,To mark the sweet flowers as they spring;Adown winding Nith I did wander,Of Phillis to muse and to sing.
CHORUS.Awa wi' your belles and your beauties,They never wi' her can compare;Whaever has met wi' my Phillis,Has met wi' the queen o' the fair.
The daisy amus'd my fond fancy,So artless, so simple, so wild;Thou emblem, said I, o' my Phillis,For she is Simplicity's child.Awa, &c.
The rose-bud's the blush o' my charmer,Her sweet balmy lip when 'tis prest:How fair and how pure is the lily,But fairer and purer her breast.Awa, &c.
Yon knot of gay flowers in the arbour,They ne'er wi' my Phillis can vie:Her breath is the breath o' the woodbine,Its dew-drop o' diamond, her eye.Awa', &c.
Her voice is the song of the morningThat wakes through the green-spreading groveWhen Phœbus peeps over the mountains,On music, and pleasure, and love.Awa, &c.
But beauty how frail and how fleeting,The bloom of a fine summer's day!While worth in the mind o' my PhillisWill flourish without a decay.Awa, &c.

MY CHLORIS.

TUNE—'MY LODGING IS ON THE COLD GROUND.'

My Chloris, mark how green the groves,The primrose banks how fair:The balmy gales awake the flowers,And wave thy flaxen hair.
The lav'rock shuns the palace gay,And o'er the cottage sings:For nature smiles as sweet, I ween,To shepherds as to kings.
Let minstrels sweep the skilfu' stringIn lordly lighted ha';The shepherd stops his simple reed,Blithe, in the birken shaw.
The princely revel may surveyOur rustic dance wi' scorn;But are their hearts as light as oursBeneath the milk-white thorn?
The shepherd, in the flowery glen,In shepherd's phrase will woo:The courtier tells a finer tale,But is his heart as true?
These wild-wood flowers I've pu'd, to deckThat spotless breast o' thine:The courtiers' gems may witness love―But 'tis na love like mine.
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