Oh, my love was fair as the siller clud
That sleeps in the smile o' dawn;
An' her een were bricht as the crystal bells
That spangle the blossom'd lawn:
An' warm as the sun was her kind, kind heart,
That glow'd 'neath a faemy sea;
But I fear'd, by the tones o' her sweet, sweet voice,
That my love was nae for me.
Oh, my love was gay as the summer time,
When the earth is bricht an' gled,
An' fresh as the spring when the young buds blaw,
In their sparkling pearl-draps cled:
An' her hair was like chains o' the sunset sheen
That hangs 'tween the lift an' sea;
But I fear'd, by the licht that halo'd her face,
That my love was nae for me.
Oh, my love was sweet as the violet flower
That waves by the moss-grown stane,
An' her lips were rich as the rowans red
That hang in forest lane;
An' her broo was a dreamy hill o' licht,
That struck ane dumb to see;
But I fear'd, by signs that canna be named,
That my love was nae for me.
Oh, my love was mild as the autumn gale
That fans the temples o' toil,
An' the sweets o' a thousand summers cam'
On her breath an' sunny smile:
An' spotless she gaed on the tainted earth,
O' a mortal blemish free,
While my heart forgot, in its feast o' joy,
That my love was nae for me.
Oh, my love was leal, an' my cup o' bliss
Was reaming to the brim,
When, ae gloaming chill, to her sacred bower
Cam' a grisly carl fu' grim,
Wha dash'd the cup frae my raptured lips
Wi' a wild, unearthly glee;
Sae the ghaistly thought was then confirm'd,
That my love was nae for me.
Oh, my love was young, an' the grim auld carl
Held her fast in his cauld embrace,
An' suck'd the red frae her hiney'd mou',
An' the blush frae her peachy face:
He stifled the sound o' her charm'd throat,
An' quench'd the fires o' her e'e;
But fairer she blooms in her heavenly bower,
For my love was nae for me.
Sae I tyned my love an' I tyned my heart,
An' I tyned baith wealth an' fame;
Syne I turn'd a sad, weary minstrel wicht,
Wi' the cauld warld for my hame.
Yet my minstrelsy 's but a lanely lay,
My wealth my aumous fee;
Oh, wad that I were wi' the grim auld carl,
For this warld is nae for me.