The Poetry of Robert Burns Edited by William Ernest Henley and Thomas F. Henderson |
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| III. |
THOU LINGERING STAR |
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 | The Poetry of Robert Burns |  |
71
THOU LINGERING STAR
I
Thou ling'ring star with less'ning ray,That lov'st to greet the early morn,
Again thou usher'st in the day
My Mary from my soul was torn.
O Mary, dear departed shade!
Where is thy place of blissful rest?
See'st thou thy lover lowly laid?
Hear'st thou the groans that rend his breast?
II
That sacred hour can I forget,Can I forget the hallow'd grove,
Where, by the winding Ayr, we met
To live one day of parting love?
Eternity cannot efface
Those records dear of transports past,
Thy image at our last embrace—
Ah! little thought we 'twas our last!
III
Ayr, gurgling, kiss'd his pebbled shore,O'erhung with wild woods thickening green;
The fragrant birch and hawthorn hoar
'Twin'd amorous round the raptur'd scene;
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The birds sang love on every spray,
Till too, too soon, the glowing west
Proclaim'd the speed of wingèd day.
IV
Still o'er these scenes my mem'ry wakes,And fondly broods with miser-care.
Time but th'impression stronger makes,
As streams their channels deeper wear.
O Mary, Dear departed shade!
Where is thy place of blissful rest?
See'st thou thy lover lowly laid?
Hear'st thou the groans that rend his breast?
| The Poetry of Robert Burns | |