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Willie Winkie and Other Songs and Poems

By William Miller: Edited, with an Introduction by Robert Ford

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O What and O What.

O what, and O what did your ain laddie say
To cheer thy tim'rous trembling heart, the day he went away?
He said, “I go to sunny lands, where gold is easy won—
And the hours will chase each other, love, like wavelets in the sun.”

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O what, and O what, if your ain lad should see
A lassie wi' mair gowden locks, jimp waist, and witchin' e'e.
O no; the love I bear for him tells me his heart is true—
“For the love I bear my lass,” he said, “will bring me back to you.”
O what, and O what, when your ain dear lad comes hame?
He said that he would marry me, and then I'll bear his name.
He said he'd bigg a bonnie house, beside a wimplin' burn;
Sae shouldna that cheer up my heart to wait my lad's return?
But what will befa' when your ain dear lad is thine?
Aye, what will befa' when my ain dear lad is mine?
Some folks are owre inqueesitive; live, kind sir, and you'll see.
Oh! I wish frae my heart he was safely back to me.