Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Scotland: Vols. VI–VIII. 1876–79.
The Bonny Lass of Deloraine
By James Hogg (17701835)S
And worldly cares my mind annoy?
Again its softest notes I ’ll try,
So dear a theme can never cloy.
Last time my mountain harp I strung,
’T was she inspired the simple strain,—
That lovely flower, so sweet and young,
The bonnie lass of Deloraine.
Around her ruddy lips that blow;
The flower that in her bosom dies,
Or grass that bends beneath her toe.
Her cheeks, endowed with powers at will,
The rose’s richest shade to drain;
Her eyes, what soft enchantments fill!
The bonnie lass of Deloraine.
And Lomond of her isles so green,
And Windermere her woodland shores,
Our Ettrick boasts a sweeter scene:
For there the evening twilight swells
With many a wild and melting strain;
And there the pride of beauty dwells,—
The bonnie lass of Deloraine.
And bonnie as she wont to be,
The world may into Ettrick crowd,
And nature’s first perfection see.
Glencoe has drawn the wanderer’s eye,
And Staffa in the western main;
These natural wonders ne’er can vie
Wi’ the bonnie lass of Deloraine.
And round her brow may honor twine,
And Heaven preserve that heart in peace,
Where meekness, love, and beauty join!
But all her joys shall cheer my heart,
And all her griefs shall give me pain;
For never from my soul shall part
The bonnie lass of Deloraine.