O BONNIE WAS YON ROSY BRIER.
[To Jean Lorimer, the heroine of this song, Burns presented a copy of the last edition of his poems, that of 1793, with a dedicatory inscription, in which he moralizes upon her youth, her beauty, and steadfast friendship, and signs himself Coila.]
I.
O Bonnie was yon rosy brier,
That blooms sae far frae haunt o’ man,
And bonnie she, and ah, how dear!
It shaded frae the e’enin sun.
II.
Yon rosebuds in the morning dew
How pure, amang the leaves sae green:
But purer was the lover’s vow
They witness’d in their shade yestreen.
III.
All in its rude and prickly bower,
That crimson rose, how sweet and fair!
But love is far a sweeter flower
Amid life’s thorny path o’ care.
IV.
The pathless wild, and wimpling burn,
Wi’ Chloris in my arms, be mine;
And I the world, nor wish, nor scorn,
Its joys and griefs alike resign.
CCLVIII.
FORLORN, MY LOVE, NO COMFORT NEAR.
Tune—“Let me in this ae night.”
[“How do you like the foregoing?” Burns asks Thomson, after having copies this song for his collection. “I have written it within this hour: so much for the speed of my Pegasus: but what say you to his bottom?”]
I.
Forlorn, my love, no comfort near,
Far, far from thee, I wander here;
Far, far from thee, the fate severe
At which I most repine, love.
O wert thou, love, but near me;
But near, near, near me;
How kindly thou wouldst cheer me,
And mingle sighs with mine, love
II.
Around me scowls a wintry sky,
That blasts each bud of hope and joy;
And shelter, shade, nor home have I,
Save in those arms of thine, love.
III.
Cold, alter’d friendship’s cruel part,
To poison Fortune’s ruthless dart,
Let me not break thy faithful heart,
And say that fate is mine, love.
IV.
But dreary tho’ the moments fleet,
O let me think we yet shall meet!
That only ray of solace sweet
Can on thy Chloris shine, love.
O wert thou, love, but near me;
But near, near, near me;
How kindly thou wouldst cheer me,
And mingle sighs with mine, love.