The Poetry of Robert Burns :: :: University of Virginia Library

The Poetry of Robert Burns

Edited by William Ernest Henley and Thomas F. Henderson

Burns, Robert (1759-1796)

[epigraph]

III.

IV.

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TO AN OLD SWEETHEART

WRITTEN ON A COPY OF HIS POEMS

I

Once fondly lov'd and still remember'd dear,
Sweet early object of my youthful vows,
Accept this mark of friendship, warm, sincere—
(Friendship! 'tis all cold duty now allows);

II

And when you read the simple artless rhymes,
One friendly sigh for him—he asks no more—
Who, distant, burns in flaming torrid climes,
Or haply lies beneath th'Atlantic roar.