Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry. 1904.
I. Disappointment in LoveThe Banks o Doon
Robert Burns (17591796)Y
How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair?
How can ye chant, ye little birds,
And I sae weary, fu’ o’ care?
That wantons through the flowering thorn;
Thou minds me o’ departed joys,
Departed—never to return.
That sings beside thy mate;
For sae I sat, and sae I sang,
And wistna o’ my fate.
To see the rose and woodbine twine;
And ilka bird sang o’ its luve,
And, fondly, sae did I o’ mine.
Fu’ sweet upon its thorny tree;
And my fause luver stole my rose,
But ah! he left the thorn wi’ me.