---
title: "O Wert Thou in the Cauld Blast"
author: "Robert Burns"
form: "Song"
year: "1796"
location: "Dumfries"
source: "Project Gutenberg #1279 — Poems and Songs of Robert Burns"
source_url: "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1279/pg1279.txt"
canonical_url: "https://robert-burns.com/poems/o-wert-thou-in-the-cauld-blast/"
---

# O Wert Thou in the Cauld Blast

## Song
O wert thou in the cauld blast,  
On yonder lea, on yonder lea,  
My plaidie to the angry airt,  
I’d shelter thee, I’d shelter thee;  
Or did Misfortune’s bitter storms  
Around thee blaw, around thee blaw,  
Thy bield should be my bosom,  
To share it a’, to share it a’.

Or were I in the wildest waste,  
Sae black and bare, sae black and bare,  
The desert were a Paradise,  
If thou wert there, if thou wert there;  
Or were I Monarch o’ the globe,  
Wi’ thee to reign, wi’ thee to reign,  
The brightest jewel in my Crown  
Wad be my Queen, wad be my Queen.

---

Source: [Project Gutenberg #1279 — Poems and Songs of Robert Burns](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1279/pg1279.txt)  
Canonical HTML: https://robert-burns.com/poems/o-wert-thou-in-the-cauld-blast/