No More Learning

Air--"_Cauld Kail. _"

[Burns composed this lyric in August, 1793, and tradition says it was
produced by the charms of Jean Lorimer. "That tune, Cauld Kail," he
says to Thomson, "is such a favorite of yours, that I once roved out
yesterday for a gloaming-shot at the Muses; when the Muse that
presides over the shores of Nith, or rather my old inspiring, dearest
nymph, Coila, whispered me the following. "]


I.

Come, let me take thee to my breast,
And pledge we ne'er shall sunder;
And I shall spurn as vilest dust
The warld's wealth and grandeur:
And do I hear my Jeanie own
That equal transports move her?
I ask for dearest life alone,
That I may live to love her.

II.

Thus in my arms, wi' a' thy charms,
I clasp my countless treasure;
I'll seek nae mair o' heaven to share,
Than sic a moment's pleasure:
And by thy een, sae bonnie blue,
I swear I'm thine for ever!
And on thy lips I seal my vow,
And break it shall I never.

* * * * *




CCV.

DAINTY DAVIE.

[From the old song of "Daintie Davie" Burns has borrowed only the
title and the measure. The ancient strain records how the Rev. David
Williamson, to escape the pursuit of the dragoons, in the time of the
persecution, was hid, by the devout Lady of Cherrytrees, in the same
bed with her ailing daughter. The divine lived to have six wives
beside the daughter of the Lady of Cherrytrees, and other children
besides the one which his hiding from the dragoons produced.
When
Charles the Second was told of the adventure and its upshot, he is
said to have exclaimed, "God's fish! that beats me and the oak: the
man ought to be made a bishop. "]


I.

Now rosy May comes in wi' flowers,
To deck her gay, green-spreading bowers;
And now comes in my happy hours,
To wander wi' my Davie.
Meet me on the warlock knowe,
Dainty Davie, dainty Davie,
There I'll spend the day wi' you,
My ain dear dainty Davie.

II.

The crystal waters round us fa',
The merry birds are lovers a',
The scented breezes round us blaw,
A wandering wi' my Davie.

III.

When purple morning starts the hare,
To steal upon her early fare,
Then thro' the dews I will repair,
To meet my faithfu' Davie

IV.

When day, expiring in the west,
The curtain draws o' nature's rest,
I flee to his arms I lo'e best,
And that's my ain dear Davie.
Meet me on the warlock knowe,
Bonnie Davie, dainty Davie,
There I'll spend the day wi' you,
My ain dear dainty Davie.

* * * * *




CCVI.

BRUCE TO HIS MEN AT BANNOCKBURN.

[FIRST VERSION. ]

Tune--"_Hey, tuttie taitie. _"

[Syme of Ryedale states that this fine ode was composed during a storm
of rain and fire, among the wilds of Glenken in Galloway: the poet
himself gives an account much less romantic.