Blythe Hae I Been

BLYTHE HAE I BEEN.

Tune--"_Liggeram Cosh._"

[Burns, who seldom praised his own compositions, told Thomson, for
whose work he wrote it, that "Blythe hae I been on yon hill," was one
of the finest songs he had ever made in his life, and composed on one
of the most lovely women in the world. The heroine was Miss Lesley
Baillie.]

I.
    Blythe hae I been on yon hill
      As the lambs before me;
    Careless ilka thought and free
      As the breeze flew o'er me.
    Now nae langer sport and play,
      Mirth or sang can please me;
    Lesley is sae fair and coy,
      Care and anguish seize me.
II.
    Heavy, heavy is the task,
      Hopeless love declaring:
    Trembling, I dow nocht but glow'r,
      Sighing, dumb, despairing!
    If she winna ease the thraws
      In my bosom swelling,
    Underneath the grass-green sod
      Soon maun be my dwelling.