O Philly, Happy Be That Day

Tune-"_The Sow's Tail._"

["This morning" (19th November, 1794), "though a keen blowing frost,"
Burns writes to Thomson, "in my walk before breakfast I finished my
duet: whether I have uniformly succeeded, I will not say: but here it
is for you, though it is not an hour old."]

HE.
    O Philly, happy be that day,
    When roving through the gather'd hay,
    My youthfu' heart was stown away,
      And by thy charms, my Philly.
SHE.
    O Willy, ay I bless the grove
    Where first I own'd my maiden love,
    Whilst thou didst pledge the powers above,
      To be my ain dear Willy.
HE.
    As songsters of the early year
    Are ilka day mair sweet to hear,
    So ilka day to me mair dear
      And charming is my Philly.
SHE.
    As on the brier the budding rose
    Still richer breathes and fairer blows,
    So in my tender bosom grows
      The love I bear my Willy.
HE.
    The milder sun and bluer sky
    That crown my harvest cares wi' joy,
    Were ne'er sae welcome to my eye
      As is a sight o' Philly.
SHE.
    The little swallow's wanton wing,
    Tho' wafting o'er the flowery spring,
    Did ne'er to me sic tidings bring,
      As meeting o' my Willy.
HE.
    The bee that thro' the sunny hour
    Sips nectar in the opening flower,
    Compar'd wi' my delight is poor,
      Upon the lips o' Philly.
SHE.
    The woodbine in the dewy weet
    When evening shades in silence meet,
    Is nocht sae fragrant or sae sweet
      As is a kiss o' Willy.
HE.
    Let Fortune's wheel at random rin,
    And fools may tyne, and knaves may win
    My thoughts are a' bound up in ane,
      And that's my ain dear Philly.
SHE.
    What's a' joys that gowd can gie?
    I care nae wealth a single flie;
    The lad I love's the lad for me,
      And that's my ain dear Willy.