The Poetry of Robert Burns Edited by William Ernest Henley and Thomas F. Henderson |
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| III. |
AS I STOOD BY YON ROOFLESS TOWER |
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 | The Poetry of Robert Burns |  |
AS I STOOD BY YON ROOFLESS TOWER
Chorus
A lassie all alone was making her moan,Lamenting our lads beyond the sea:—
‘In the bluidy wars they fa', and our honor's gane an' a',
And broken-hearted we maun die.’
I
As I stood by yon roofless tower,Where the wa'flow'r scents the dewy air,
Where the houlet mourns in her ivy bower,
And tells the midnight moon her care:
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II
The winds were laid, the air was still,The stars they shot along the sky,
The tod was howling on the hill,
And the distant-echoing glens reply.
III
The burn, adown its hazelly path,Was rushing by the ruin'd wa',
Hasting to join the sweeping Nith,
Whase roarings seem'd to rise and fa'.
IV
The cauld blae North was streaming forthHer lights, wi' hissing, eerie din:
Athort the lift they start and shift,
Like Fortune's favours, tint as win.
V
Now, looking over firth and fauld,Her horn the pale-faced Cynthia rear'd,
When lo! in form of minstrel auld
A stern and stalwart ghaist appear'd.
VI
And frae his harp sic strains did flow,Might rous'd the slumbering Dead to hear,
But O, it was a tale of woe
As ever met a Briton's ear!
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VII
He sang wi' joy his former day,He, weeping, wail'd his latter times:
But what he said—it was nae play!—
I winna ventur't in my rhymes.
Chorus
A lassie all alone was making her moan,Lamenting our lads beyond the sea:—
‘In the bluidy wars they fa', and our honor's gane an' a',
And broken-hearted we maun die.’
| The Poetry of Robert Burns | |