 | Annie Weir and Other Poems |  |
26
A DEATHLESS LOVE.
Oh, sing that plaintive sang, dear May!
Ance mair ere life I tyne;
There's no in all the world, dear bairn,
A voice sae sweet as thine.
Alang life's path I've tottered lang,
The broken arch is near;
And when I fa' I fain would hae
Thy warbling in my ear.
Ance mair ere life I tyne;
There's no in all the world, dear bairn,
A voice sae sweet as thine.
Alang life's path I've tottered lang,
The broken arch is near;
And when I fa' I fain would hae
Thy warbling in my ear.
Oh, sing again that plaintive sang!—
It waukens memories sweet,
That slumbered in the past afar,
Whare youth and bairn-time meet.
I roam through woods wi' berries rich,
Or owre the breezy hills—
Unwearied, wander far to dream
Beside love-hallowed rills.
It waukens memories sweet,
That slumbered in the past afar,
Whare youth and bairn-time meet.
27
Or owre the breezy hills—
Unwearied, wander far to dream
Beside love-hallowed rills.
Sit owre beside me, winsome bairn,
And let me kiss thy brow;
Wi' baith thy warm wee hauns press mine—
Oh, would the end come now!
Or would—but 'tis a sinfu' wish,
As sinfu' as it's vain;
We could not sit for ever thus,
Nor thou a child remain.
And let me kiss thy brow;
Wi' baith thy warm wee hauns press mine—
Oh, would the end come now!
Or would—but 'tis a sinfu' wish,
As sinfu' as it's vain;
We could not sit for ever thus,
Nor thou a child remain.
There's nane I love like thee, dear bairn—
Thou ken'st nae why, I ween:
Thou only hast thy grannie's smile,
Thou only her blue een;
Thou only wilt the village maids
Like her in sang excel;
Thou only hast her brow and cheek,
Wi' rosy dimple dell.
Thou ken'st nae why, I ween:
Thou only hast thy grannie's smile,
Thou only her blue een;
Thou only wilt the village maids
Like her in sang excel;
Thou only hast her brow and cheek,
Wi' rosy dimple dell.
28
It's mony a weary year since she
Was 'neath the gowans laid,
Yet aft I hear her on the brae,
And see her waving plaid:
And aften yet, in lanely hours,
Returns the thrill o' pride
I felt when first we mutual love
Confessed on Lavern side.
Was 'neath the gowans laid,
Yet aft I hear her on the brae,
And see her waving plaid:
And aften yet, in lanely hours,
Returns the thrill o' pride
I felt when first we mutual love
Confessed on Lavern side.
They say there's music in the storm
That tower and tree o'erturns,
And beauty in the smooring drift
That hides the glens and burns;
And mercy in the fate that from
Our fond embraces tears
The angel o' a happy hame—
The love o' early years:
That tower and tree o'erturns,
And beauty in the smooring drift
That hides the glens and burns;
And mercy in the fate that from
Our fond embraces tears
The angel o' a happy hame—
The love o' early years:
But he whase house the storm has wrecked,
No music hears it breathe.
Wha e'er saw beauty in the drift
That happed a frien' wi' death?
Or wha, when Fate wi' ruthless haun',
His life's ae flower lays low,
Can breathe a grateful prayer, and feel
There's mercy in the blow?
No music hears it breathe.
Wha e'er saw beauty in the drift
That happed a frien' wi' death?
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His life's ae flower lays low,
Can breathe a grateful prayer, and feel
There's mercy in the blow?
Sae thought I when her een I closed;
And, though the thought was wrang,
It haunted me when to the fields
My meals nae mair she brang.
And aften by the lone dyke-side
A tearfu' grace was sain;
And aft, alas! wi' bitter heart,
The books at e'en I taen.
And, though the thought was wrang,
It haunted me when to the fields
My meals nae mair she brang.
And aften by the lone dyke-side
A tearfu' grace was sain;
And aft, alas! wi' bitter heart,
The books at e'en I taen.
Nane think how sadly owre my head
The lang, lang years hae passed—
Nane ken how near its end has crept
The langest and the last;
But I fu' brawly ken, for, May,
Your grannie came yestreen,
And joy and hope were in her smile,
And welcome in her een.
The lang, lang years hae passed—
Nane ken how near its end has crept
The langest and the last;
But I fu' brawly ken, for, May,
Your grannie came yestreen,
And joy and hope were in her smile,
And welcome in her een.
30
Sit near me, May—sit nearer yet—
My heart at times stauns still:
'Tis sweet to fa' asleep for aye
By sic a blithesome rill—
My thoughts are wanderin', bairn. The veil
O' heaven aside seems drawn;
The deepenin' autumn gloamin's turned
To summer's brightest dawn.
My heart at times stauns still:
'Tis sweet to fa' asleep for aye
By sic a blithesome rill—
My thoughts are wanderin', bairn. The veil
O' heaven aside seems drawn;
The deepenin' autumn gloamin's turned
To summer's brightest dawn.
My een grow heavy, May, and dim—
What unco sounds I hear!
It seems a sweeter voice than thine
That's croonin' in my ear.
Lean owre me wi' thy grannie's face,
And waefu' glistenin' ee;
Lean kindly owre me, bairn, for nane
Maun close my een but thee.
What unco sounds I hear!
It seems a sweeter voice than thine
That's croonin' in my ear.
Lean owre me wi' thy grannie's face,
And waefu' glistenin' ee;
Lean kindly owre me, bairn, for nane
Maun close my een but thee.
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