The Poetry of Robert Burns Edited by William Ernest Henley and Thomas F. Henderson |
I. |
2. |
III. |
O POORTITH CAULD |
IV. |
The Poetry of Robert Burns | ||
O POORTITH CAULD
Chorus
O, why should Fate sic pleasure haveLife's dearest bands untwining?
Or why sae sweet a flower as love
Depend on Fortune's shining?
I
O Poortith cauld and restless Love,Ye wrack my peace between ye!
Yet poortith a' I could forgive,
An 'twere na for my Jeanie.
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II
The warld's wealth when I think on,Its pride and a' the lave o't—
My curse on silly coward man,
That he should be the slave o't!
III
Her een sae bonie blue betrayHow she repays my passion;
But prudence is her o'erword ay:
She talks o' rank and fashion.
IV
O, wha can prudence think upon,And sic a lassie by him?
O, wha can prudence think upon,
And sae in love as I am?
V
How blest the wild-wood Indian's fate!He woos his artless dearie—
The silly bogles, Wealth and State,
Can never make him eerie.
Chorus
O, why should Fate sic pleasure have,Life's dearest bands untwining?
Or why sae sweet a flower as love
Depend on Fortune's shining?
The Poetry of Robert Burns | ||