The Text.--There is only one text of this ballad, and that was printed by Scott in the Minstrelsy from 'tradition in the West Borders'; he adds that 'some conjectural emendations have been absolutely necessary,' a remark suspic...
There is no flower of wood or lea, No April flower, as fair as she: O white anemone, who hast The wind's wild grace, Know her a cousin of thy race, Into whose face...
Am I kin to Sorrow, That so oft Falls the knocker of my door-- Neither loud nor soft, But as long accustomed, Under Sorrow's hand? Marigolds around the step And rosemary stand,...
Fine div I ken what ails yon puddock, Janet, That aince would hae her neb set up sae hie; There's them that disna' seem to understan' it, I'se warrant ye it's plain eneuch to me! ...
Into the rock the road is cut full deep, At its low ledges village children play, From its high rifts fountains of leafage weep, And silvery birches sway.
I abhor the slimy kiss, Which to me most loathsome is. Those lips please me which are placed Close, but not too strictly laced: Yielding I would have them; yet Not a wimbling tongue admit:...
O heart of mine, we shouldn't Worry so! What we've missed of calm we couldn't Have, you know! What we've met of stormy pain, And of sorrow's driving rain, We can better meet again, If it blow!...
'T is when the lark goes soaring And the bee is at the bud, When lightly dancing zephyrs Sing over field and flood; When all sweet things in nature Seem joyfully achime -...
One stormy morn I chanced to meet A lassie in the town; Her locks were like the ripened wheat, Her laughing eyes were brown. I watched her as she tripped along Till madness filled my brain,...
Knitting is the maid o' the kitchen, Milly, Doing nothing sits the chore boy, Billy: "Seconds reckoned, Seconds reckoned; Every minute, Sixty in it. Milly, Billy, Billy, Milly,...
No stone is set to mark his nation's loss, No stately tomb enshrines his noble breast; Not e'en the tribute of a wooden cross Can mark this hero's rest.
He needs them not, his name untarnished stands,...