O, were I on Parnassus Hill


O were I on Parnassus hill; Or had o' Helicon my fill; That I might catch poetic skill, To sing how dear I love thee. But Nith maun be my Muses well, My Muse maun be my bonie sell; On Corsincon I'll glowr and spell, And write how dear I love thee. Then come, sweet Muse, inspire my lay! For a' the lee-lang simmer's day, I couldna sing, I couldna say, How much, how dear, I love thee. I see thee dancing o'er the green, Thy waist sae jimp, thy limbs sae clean, Thy tempting lips, thy roguish een By Heaven and Earth I love thee. By night, by day, a-field, at hame, The thoughts o' thee my breast inflame; And ay I muse and sing thy name, I only live to love thee. Tho' I were doom'd to wander on, Beyond the sea, beyond the sun, Till my last weary sand was run; Till then - and then I love thee.

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Billy Boyd

About this work

This is a song by Robert Burns. It was written in 1788 and is read here by Billy Boyd.

Themes for this song

nature

Selected for 05 October

National Poetry Day is celebrated in early October. Today's selection is a meditation on the scope and power of poetry. Instead of verse's sacred mountain for inspiration, Burns has the river Nith and the young woman he is attracted to. Sadly, the plea to, 'catch poetic skill' seems to have gone unheeded since these Dumfries inducements to Bardic creativity brought on a merely strained and vapid lyric.

Donny O'Rourke

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