Thomas Humphry Ward, ed. The English Poets. 1880–1918.rnVol. III. The Eighteenth Century: Addison to Blake
Robert Burns (17591796)Green Grow the Rashes. A Fragment
Green grow the rashes, O;
The sweetest hours that e’er I spend,
Are spent among the lasses, O!
In ev’ry hour that passes, O;
What signifies the life o’ man,
An’ ’twere na for the lasses, O.
An’ riches still may fly them, O;
An’ tho’ at last they catch them fast,
Their hearts can ne’er enjoy them, O.
My arms about my dearie, O;
An’ warly cares, an’ warly men,
May a’ gae tapsalteerie, O!
Ye ’re nought but senseless asses, O;
The wisest man the warl’ e’er saw,
He dearly lov’d the lasses, O.
Her noblest work she classes, O;
Her ’prentice han’ she tried on man,
An’ then she made the lasses, O.