But
throughout, and this is the important point to note in relating his
poetry to his life, his one mode of complimentary address to a woman
was in terms of gallantry.
The following group of love songs illustrate the various phases of his
temperament which we have been discussing. The first two are to Mary
Campbell, and exhibit Burns in his most reverential attitude toward
women:
HIGHLAND MARY
Ye banks, and braes, and streams around
The castle o' Montgomery,
Green be your woods, and fair your flowers,
Your waters never drumlie! [muddy]
There Simmer first unfauld her robes, [may S. f. unfold]
And there the langest tarry;
For there I took the last fareweel
O' my sweet Highland Mary.
How sweetly bloom'd the gay green birk, [birch]
How rich the hawthorn's blossom,
As underneath their fragrant shade
I clasp'd her to my bosom!
The golden hours on angel wings
Flew o'er me and my dearie;
For dear to me as light and life
Was my sweet Highland Mary.
Wi' mony a vow and lock'd embrace
Our parting was fu' tender;
And, pledging aft to meet again,
We tore oursels asunder;
But oh! fell death's untimely frost,
That nipt my flower sae early!
Now green's the sod, and cauld's the clay, [cold]
That wraps my Highland Mary!
O pale, pale now, those rosy lips,
I aft hae kiss'd sae fondly!
And closed for aye the sparkling glance,
That dwelt on me sae kindly!
And mould'ring now in silent dust,
That heart that lo'ed me dearly! [loved]
But still within my bosom's core
Shall live my Highland Mary.
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