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Robert Burns. (1759–1796) (continued)

4786

But to see her was to love her, 1
Love but her, and love forever.

Ae Fond Kiss.

4787

Had we never loved sae kindly,
Had we never loved sae blindly,
Never met or never parted,
We had ne’er been broken-hearted!

Ae Fond Kiss.

4788

    To see her is to love her,
  And love but her forever;
For Nature made her what she is,
  And never made anither!

Bonny Lesley.

4789

    Ye banks and braes o’ bonny Doon,
  How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair?
How can ye chant, ye little birds,
  And I sae weary fu’ o’ care?

The Banks of Doon.

4790

Chords that vibrate sweetest pleasure
Thrill the deepest notes of woe.

Sweet Sensibility.

4791

The rank is but the guinea’s stamp,
The man ’s the gowd for a’ that. 2

For a’ that an a’ that.

4792

    A prince can make a belted knight,
  A marquis, duke, and a’ that;
But an honest man ’s aboon his might,
  Guid faith, he maunna fa’ that. 3

For a’ that an a’ that.

4793

’T is sweeter for thee despairing
Than aught in the world beside,—Jessy!

Jessy.

4794

    Some hae meat and canna eat,
  And some would eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
  Sae let the Lord be thankit.

Grace before Meat.

4795

It was a’ for our rightfu’ King
We left fair Scotland’s strand.

A’ for our Rightfu’ King. 4

Note 1.
To know her was to love her.—Samuel Rogers: Jacqueline, stanza 1. [back]

Note 2.
I weigh the man, not his title; ’t is not the king’s stamp can make the metal better.—Wycherly: The Plaindealer, act i. sc. 1. [back]

Note 3.
See Southerne, Quotation 2. [back]

Note 4.
This ballad first appeared in Johnson’s “Museum,” 1796. Sir Walter Scott was never tired of hearing it sung. [back]