University of Virginia Library

I hae lost my Love.

I hae lost my love, an' I dinna ken how,
I hae lost my love, an' I carena;
For laith will I be just to lie down an' dee,
And to sit down an' greet wad be bairnly.
But a screed o' ill-nature I canna weel help,
At having been guidit unfairly;
An' weel wad I like to gie women a skelp,
An' yerk their sweet haffits fu' yarely.

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Oh! plague on the limmers, sae sly and demure,
As pawkie as deils wi' their smiling;
As fickle as winter, in sunshine and shower,
The hearts o' a' mankind beguiling;
As sour as December, as soothing as May:
To suit their ain ends, never doubt them;
Their ill faults I coudna tell ower in a day,
But their beauty's the warst thing about them.
Ay, that's what sets up the haill warld in a lowe;
Makes kingdoms to rise and expire;
Man's micht is nae mair than a flaughten o' tow,
Opposed to a bleeze o' reid fire.
'Twas women at first made creation to bend,
And of nature's prime lord made the fellow;
An' 'tis her that will bring this ill warld to an end,
An' that will be seen an' heard tell o'.