[golden]
The hungry Jew in wilderness
Rejoicing o'er his manna,
Was naething to my hinny bliss [honey]
Upon the lips of Anna.
Ye monarchs, tak the east and west,
Frae Indus to Savannah!
Gie me within my straining grasp
The melting form of Anna.
There I'll despise imperial charms,
An Empress or Sultana,
While dying raptures in her arms
I give and take with Anna!
Awa, thou flaunting god o' day!
Awa, thou pale Diana!
Ilk star, gae hide thy twinkling ray [Each, go]
When I'm to meet my Anna.
Come, in thy raven plumage, night!
(Sun, moon, and stars withdrawn a')
And bring an angel pen to write
My transports wi' my Anna!
(Postscript)
The kirk and state may join, and tell
To do such things I mauna: [must not]
The kirk and state may gae to hell,
And I'll gae to my Anna.
She is the sunshine o' my ee,
To live but her I canna; [without]
Had I on earth but wishes three,
The first should be my Anna.
Nothing could be more hopeless than to attempt to classify Burns's
songs according to the amours that occasioned them, and to seek to
find a constant relation between the reality and intensity of the
passion and the vitality of the poetry. At times some relation does
seem apparent, as we may discern beneath the vigor of the song just
quoted a trace of a conscious attempt to brave his conscience in
connection with the one proved infidelity to Jean after his marriage.
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