No More Learning

She lets thee to wit that she has thee forgot,
And for ever disowns thee, her Willy.

III.

O had I ne'er seen thee, my Phely!
O had I ne'er seen thee, my Phely!
As light as the air, and fause as thou's fair,
Thou's broken the heart o' thy Willy.

* * * * *




CCXXVIII.

HOW LANG AND DREARY IS THE NIGHT.

Tune--"_Cauld Kail in Aberdeen. _"

[On comparing this lyric, corrected for Thomson, with that in the
Museum, it will be seen that the former has more of elegance and
order: the latter quite as much nature and truth: but there is less of
the new than of the old in both. ]


I.

How lang and dreary is the night,
When I am frae my dearie;
I restless lie frae e'en to morn,
Though I were ne'er sae weary.
For oh! her lanely nights are lang;
And oh! her dreams are eerie;
And oh, her widow'd heart is sair,
That's absent frae her dearie.

II.
When I think on the lightsome days
I spent wi' thee my dearie;
And now what seas between us roar--
How can I be but eerie?

III.

How slow ye move, ye heavy hours;
The joyless day how dreary!
It was na sae ye glinted by,
When I was wi' my dearie.
For oh! her lanely nights are lang;
And oh, her dreams are eerie;
And oh, her widow'd heart is sair,
That's absent frae her dearie.

* * * * *




CCXXIX.

LET NOT WOMAN E'ER COMPLAIN.

Tune--"_Duncan Gray. _"

["These English songs," thus complains the poet, in the letter which
conveyed this lyric to Thomson, "gravel me to death: I have not that
command of the language that I have of my native tongue. I have been
at 'Duncan Gray,' to dress it in English, but all I can do is
deplorably stupid. For instance:"]


I.

Let not woman e'er complain
Of inconstancy in love;
Let not woman e'er complain
Fickle man is apt to rove:
Look abroad through nature's range,
Nature's mighty law is change;
Ladies, would it not be strange,
Man should then a monster prove?

II.

Mark the winds, and mark the skies;
Ocean's ebb, and ocean's flow:
Sun find moon but set to rise,
Round and round the seasons go:
Why then ask of silly man
To oppose great nature's plan?
We'll be constant while we can--
You can be no more, you know.