The Hundred Best English Poems Part 3

Thou'll break my heart, thou bonie bird, That sings upon the bough: Thou minds me o' the happy days When my fause Luve was true!

III.

Thou'll break my heart, thou bonie bird, That sings beside thy mate: For sae I sat, and sae I sang, And wist na o' my fate!

IV.

Aft hae I rov'd by bonie Doon To see the woodbine twine, And ilka bird sang o' its luve, And sae did I o' mine.

V.

Wi' lightsome heart I pu'd a rose Frae aff its th.o.r.n.y tree, And my fause luver staw my rose, But left the thorn wi' me.

14. _A Red, Red Rose._

I.

O, my luve is like a red, red rose, That's newly sprung in June.

O, my luve is like the melodie, That's sweetly play'd in tune.

II.

As fair art thou, my bonie la.s.s, So deep in luve am I, And I will luve thee still, my dear, Till a' the seas gang dry.

III.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear, And the rocks melt wi' the sun!

And I will luve thee still, my dear, While the sands o' life shall run.

IV.

And fare the weel, my only luve, And fare the weel a while!

And I will come again, my luve, Tho' it were ten thousand mile!

15. _Mary Morison._

I.

O Mary, at thy window be!

It is the wish'd, the trysted hour.

Those smiles and glances let me see, That make the miser's treasure poor.

How blythely wad I bide the stoure, A weary slave frae sun to sun, Could I the rich reward secure-- The lovely Mary Morison!

II.

Yestreen, when to the trembling string The dance gaed thro' the lighted ha', To thee my fancy took its wing, I sat, but neither heard or saw: Tho' this was fair, and that was braw, And yon the toast of a' the town, I sigh'd and said amang them a':-- "Ye are na Mary Morison!"

III.

O Mary, canst thou wreck his peace Wha for thy sake wad gladly die?

Or canst thou break that heart of his Whase only faut is loving thee?

If love for love thou wilt na gie, At least be pity to me shown: A thought ungentle canna be The thought o' Mary Morison.

_Henderson and Henley's Text._

LORD BYRON.

16. _She Walks in Beauty._

I.

She walks in Beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that's best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes: Thus mellowed to that tender light Which Heaven to gaudy day denies.

II.

One shade the more, one ray the less, Had half impaired the nameless grace Which waves in every raven tress, Or softly lightens o'er her face; Where thoughts serenely sweet express, How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

III.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow, So soft, so calm, yet eloquent, The smiles that win, the tints that glow, But tell of days in goodness spent, A mind at peace with all below, A heart whose love is innocent!

17. _Oh! s.n.a.t.c.hed Away in Beauty's Bloom._

I.

Oh! s.n.a.t.c.hed away in beauty's bloom, On thee shall press no ponderous tomb; But on thy turf shall roses rear Their leaves, the earliest of the year; And the wild cypress wave in tender gloom:

II.

And oft by yon blue gus.h.i.+ng stream Shall Sorrow lean her drooping head, And feed deep thought with many a dream, And lingering pause and lightly tread; Fond wretch! as if her step disturbed the dead!

III.

Away! we know that tears are vain, That Death nor heeds nor hears distress: Will this unteach us to complain?

Or make one mourner weep the less?

And thou--who tell'st me to forget, Thy looks are wan, thine eyes are wet.

18. _Song from "The Corsair."_