WHEN FIRST I CAME TO STEWART KYLE.

TUNE "I HAD A HORSE AND I HAD NAE MAIR."

WHEN first I came to Stewart Kyle,
My mind it was na steady,
Where'er I gaed, where'er I rade,
A mistress still I had aye:

But when I came roun' by Mauchline town,
Not dreadin' onie body,

My heart was caught before I thought,
And by a Mauchline lady.

*

ON SENSIBILITY. TO MY DEAR AND MUCH-HONOURED FRIEND, MRS. DUNLOP, OF dunlop.

AIR "SENSIBILITY."

SENSIBILITY, how charming,

Thou, my friend, canst truly tell;
But distress, with horrors arming,
Thou hast also known too well.

Fairest flower, behold the lily,
Blooming in the sunny ray:
Let the blast sweep o'er the valley,
See it prostrate on the clay.

Hear the wood-lark charm the forest,
Telling o'er his little joys;
Hapless bird! a prey the surest
To each pirate of the skies.

Dearly bought, the hidden treasure
Finer feelings can bestow

;

Chords, that vibrate sweetest pleasure,
Thrill the deepest notes of woe.

MONTGOMERIE'S PEGGY.'

TUNE "GALLA WATER."

ALTHO' my bed were in yon muir,
Amang the heather, in my plaidie,
Yet happy, happy would I be,

Had I my dear Montgomerie's Peggy.

When o'er the hill beat surly storms,
And winter nights were dark and rainy;
I'd seek some dell, and in my arms
I'd shelter dear Montgomerie's Peggy.

Were I a Baron proud and high,
And horse and servants waiting ready,
Then a' 'twad gie o' joy to me,

The sharin't wi' Montgomerie's Peggy.

ON A BANK OF FLOWERS.

ON a bank of flowers, in a summer day,
For summer lightly drest,

The youthful blooming Nelly lay,
With love and sleep opprest;

When Willie, wand'ring thro' the wood,
Who for her favour oft had sued,
He gaz'd, he wish'd, he fear'd, he blush'd,
And trembled where he stood.

Her closed eyes, like weapons sheath'd,
Were seal'd in soft repose;

Her lips, still as she fragrant breath'd,
It richer dy'd the rose.

The springing lilies sweetly prest,

Wild, wanton kiss'd her rival breast;

He gaz'd, he wish'd, he fear'd, he blush'd,
His bosom ill at rest.

My Montgomerie's Peggy was my deity for six or eight months. I have tried to imitate, in this extempore thing, that irregularity in the rhyme which, when judiciously done, has such a fine effect on the ear.-R. B.

Her robes, light waving in the breeze,
Her tender limbs embrace!
Her lovely form, her native ease,
All harmony and grace!

Tumultuous tides his pulses roll,
A faltering ardent kiss he stole ;
He gaz'd, he wish'd, he fear'd, he blush'd,
And sigh'd his very soul.

As flies the partridge from the brake,
On fear-inspired wings;

So Nelly, starting, half awake,

Away affrighted springs :

But Willie follow'd-as he should,

He overtook her in the wood :

He vow'd, he pray'd, he found the maid
Forgiving all, and good.

O RAGING FORTUNE'S WITHERING BLAST.

O RAGING Fortune's withering blast
Has laid my leaf full low, O!
O raging Fortune's withering blast
Has laid my leaf full low, O!

My stem was fair, my bud was green,
My blossom sweet did blow, Ŏ!
The dew fell fresh, the sun rose mild,
And made my branches grow, 0.

But luckless Fortune's northern storms
Laid a' my blossoms low, O!
But luckless Fortune's northern storms
Laid a' my blossoms low, O!

SLOW spreads the gloom my soul desires,
The sun from India's shore retires :
To Evan Banks with temp'rate ray,
Home of my youth, he leads the day.

Oh! Banks to me for ever dear!

Oh! stream, whose murmurs still I hear!
All, all my hopes of bliss reside
Where Evan mingles with the Clyde.

And she, in simple beauty drest,
Whose image lives within thy breast;
Who trembling heard my parting sigh,
And long pursued me with her eye:

Does she, with heart unchang'd as mine,
Oft in the vocal bowers recline ?

Or, where yon grot o'erhangs the tide,
Muse while the Evan seeks the Clyde?

Ye lofty Banks that Evan bound,
Ye lavish woods that wave around,
And o'er the stream your shadows throw,
Which sweetly winds so far below;

What secret charm to mem'ry brings,
All that on Evan's border springs!
Sweet Banks! ye bloom by Mary's side:
Blest stream! she views thee haste to Clyde.

Can all the wealth of India's coast
Atone for years in absence lost!
Return, ye moments of delight,
With richer treasures bless my sight!

Swift from this desert let me part,
And fly to meet a kindred heart!
Nor more may aught my steps divide
From that dear stream which flows to Clyde !

WOMEN'S MIND S.

TUNE-" FOR A' THAT."

THO' Women's minds, like winter winds,
May shift and turn, and a' that,
The noblest breast adores them maist,
A consequence I draw that.

For a' that, and a' that,

And twice as meikle's a' that,
The bonnie lass that I lo'e best
She'll be my ain for a' that.

But there is ane aboon the lave,
Has wit, and sense, and a' that;
A bonnie lass, I like her best,

And wha a crime dare ca' that?
For a' that, &c.

TO MARY IN HEAVEN.1

TUNE "MISS FORBES' FAREWELL TO BANFF."

THOU ling'ring star, with less'ning ray,
That lov'st to greet the early morn,
Again thou usher'st in the day

My Mary from my soul was torn.
O Mary! dear departed shade!

Where is thy place of blissful rest ?
Seest thou thy lover lowly laid ?

Hear'st thou the groans that rend his breast?

That sacred hour can I forget?
Can I forget the hallow'd grove,
Where by the winding Ayr we met,
To live one day of parting love?
Eternity will not efface

Those records dear of transports past;

Thy image at our last embrace;

Ah! little thought we 'twas our last!

Ayr gurgling kiss'd his pebbled shore,
O'erhung with wild woods, thick'ning green;
The fragrant birch, and hawthorn hoar,
Twin'd am'rous round the raptur'd scene.
The flowers sprang wanton to be prest,
The birds sang love on ev'ry spray,-
Till too, too soon, the glowing west
Proclaim'd the speed of winged day.

Still o'er these scenes my mem'ry wakes,
And fondly broods with miser care!
Time but th' impression deeper makes,
As streams their channels deeper wear.

My Mary, dear departed shade!

Where is thy blissful place of rest?

Seest thou thy lover lowly laid?

Hear'st thou the groans that rend his breast?

1 The Mary Campbell already mentioned. The stanzas were composed while Burns lay on some sheaves in the harvest-field, with his

star of exceeding brightness.

eyes fixed on a