Scotland/Scots > Life of Robert Burns

ROBERT BURNS.
“ O thou pale orb, that silent shines,
While care-untroubled mortals sleep !
Thou seest a wretch that inly pines,
And wanders here to wail and weep !
With woe I nightly vigils keep,
Beneath thy wan unwarming beam ;
And mourn, in lamentation deep,
How life and love are all a dream.
“ No idly-feigned poetic plaints,
My sad, love-lorn lamentings claim;
No shepherd’s pipe—Arcadian strains ;
No fabled tortures, quaint and tame.
The plighted faith ; the mutual flame;
The oft attested Pow’rs above ;
The promised Father’s tender name ;
These were the pledges of my love !”
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