A Portrait of Robert Burns Robert Burns

1794 · Song

She Says She Loes Me Best of a’


Tune ·  Oonagh’s Waterfall

Sae flaxen were her ringlets,Her eyebrows of a darker hue,Bewitchingly o’er-archingTwa laughing e’en o’ lovely blue;Her smiling, sae wyling.Wad make a wretch forget his woe;What pleasure, what treasure,Unto these rosy lips to grow!Such was my Chloris’ bonie face,When first that bonie face I saw;And aye my Chloris’ dearest charm—She says, she lo’es me best of a’.12
Like harmony her motion,Her pretty ankle is a spy,Betraying fair proportion,Wad make a saint forget the sky:Sae warming, sae charming,Her faultless form and gracefu’ air;Ilk feature—auld NatureDeclar’d that she could do nae mair:Hers are the willing chains o’ love,By conquering Beauty’s sovereign law;And still my Chloris’ dearest charm—She says, she lo’es me best of a’.24
Let others love the city,And gaudy show, at sunny noon;Gie me the lonely valley,The dewy eve and rising moon,Fair beaming, and streaming,Her silver light the boughs amang;While falling; recalling,The amorous thrush concludes his sang;There, dearest Chloris, wilt thou rove,By wimpling burn and leafy shaw,And hear my vows o’ truth and love,And say, thou lo’es me best of a’.36
Year
1794
Form
Song
Location
Dumfries
Tune
Oonagh’s Waterfall
Source
Project Gutenberg #1279 — Poems and Songs of Robert Burns