O, were I on Parnassus hill,Or had o’ Helicon my fill,That I might catch poetic skill,To sing how dear I love thee!But Nith maun be my Muse’s well,My Muse maun be thy bonie sel’,On Corsincon I’ll glowr and spell,And write how dear I love thee.8
Then come, sweet Muse, inspire my lay!For a’ the lee-lang simmer’s dayI couldna sing, I couldna say,How much, how dear, I love thee,I see thee dancing o’er the green,Thy waist sae jimp, thy limbs sae clean,Thy tempting lips, thy roguish een—By Heaven and Earth I love thee!16
By night, by day, a-field, at hame,The thoughts o’ thee my breast inflame:And aye I muse and sing thy name—I only live to love thee.Tho’ I were doom’d to wander on,Beyond the sea, beyond the sun,Till my last weary sand was run;Till then—and then I love thee!24