Who formed this frame with beneficent aim,
Whose sovereign statute is order;

Within this dear mansion may wayward Contention
Or withered Envy ne'er enter;

May Secrecy round be the mystical bound,
And Brotherly Love be the centre.

THE BONNIE LASS O' BALLOCHMYLE.

'TWAS even

the dewy fields were green,

On every blade the pearls hang! The Zephyr wantoned round the bean, And bore its fragrant sweets alang ; In every glen the mavis sang,

All nature listening seemed the while, Except where greenwood echoes rang, Amang the braes o' Ballochmyle.

With careless step I onward strayed,
My heart rejoiced in Nature's joy,
When, musing in a lonely glade,

A maiden fair I chanced to spy.
Her look was like the morning's eye,
Her air like Nature's vernal smile,
Perfection whispered passing by,
Behold the lass o' Ballochmyle!1

Fair is the morn in flowery May,
And sweet is night in Autumn mild,

1 Variation

VOL. I.

The lily's hue and rose's dye
Bespoke the lass o' Ballochmyle.
18

When roving through the garden gay,.
Or wandering in the lonely wild :
But woman, Nature's darling child!
There all her charms she does compile ;
Even there her other works are foiled
By the bonnie lass o' Ballochmyle.

Oh, had she been a country maid,
And I the happy country swain,
Though sheltered in the lowest shed
That ever rose on Scotland's plain,
Through weary winter's wind and rain,
With joy, with rapture, I would toil,
And nightly to my bosom strain
The bonnie lass o' Ballochmyle.

Then pride might climb the slippery steep,
Where fame and honours lofty shine;
And thirst of gold might tempt the deep,
Or downward seek the Indian mine;
Give me the cot below the pine,

To tend the flocks, or till the soil,

And every day has joys divine

With the bonnie lass o' Ballochmyle.

TO MR. JOHN KENNEDY.

FAREWELL, dear friend! may guid-luck hit

you,

And 'mang her favourites admit you.

If e'er Detraction shore to smit you,
May nane believe him,

And ony deil that thinks to get you,
Good L-, deceive him.

THE FAREWELL.

"The valiant, in himself, what can he suffer?
Or what does he regard his single woes?
But when, alas! he multiplies himself,

To dearer selves, to the loved tender fair,
To those whose bliss, whose being hangs upon him,
To helpless children! - then, oh then! he feels
The point of misery festering in his heart,

And weakly weeps his fortune like a coward.
Such, such am I undone!"

FA

THOMSON'S Edward and Eleanora.

AREWELL, Old Scotia's bleak domains,
Far dearer than the torrid plains
Where rich ananas blow!

Farewell, a mother's blessing dear!
A brother's sigh! a sister's tear!
My Jean's heart-rending throe!
Farewell, my Bess! though thou 'rt bereft
Of my parental care,

A faithful brother I have left,
My part in him thou 'lt share!
Adieu too, to you too,

My Smith, my bosom frien';
When kindly you mind me,

Oh then befriend my Jean!

What bursting anguish tears my heart!
From thee, my Jeanie, must I part?

Thou, weeping, answ’rest “No!”
Alas! misfortune stares my face,
And points to ruin and disgrace;
I for thy sake must go!
Thee, Hamilton, and Aiken dear,
A grateful, warm adieu !
I, with a much-indebted tear,
Shall still remember you!
All-hail then, the gale then,

Wafts me from thee, dear shore !

It rustles, and whistles —

I'll never see thee more!

LINES WRITTEN ON A BANK-NOTE.1

WA

AE worth thy power, thou cursed leaf,
Fell source o' a' my wo and grief :

For lack o' thee I've lost my lass,
For lack o' thee I scrimp my glass;
I see the children of affliction
Unaided, through thy cursed restriction.
I've seen the oppressor's cruel smile
Amid his hapless victim's spoil,
And, for thy potence, vainly wished
To crush the villain in the dust.

For lack o' thee I leave this much-loved shore,
Never perhaps to greet old Scotland more.
R. B.- Kyle.

1 "The above verses, in the handwriting of Burns, are copied from a bank-note, in the possession of Mr. James F. Gracie of Dumfries. The note is of the Bank of Scotland, and is dated so far back as 1st March, 1780."— MOTHERWELL.

WRITTEN

ON A BLANK LEAF OF A COPY OF THE POEMS PRESENTED TO AN OLD SWEETHEART, THEN MARRIED.

ONCE fondly loved, and still remembered dear,

Sweet early object of my youthful vows! Accept this mark of friendship, warm, sincere Friendship! 't is all cold duty now allows.

And when you read the simple artless rhymes, One friendly sigh for him - he asks no more, Who distant burns in flaming torrid climes,

Or haply lies beneath the Atlantic's roar.

VERSES WRITTEN UNDER VIOLENT GRIEF.

A

CCEPT the gift a friend sincere
Wad on thy worth be pressin' ;
Remembrance oft may start a tear,
But oh! that tenderness forbear,

Though 't wad my sorrows lessen.

My morning raise sae clear and fair,
I thought sair storms wad never
Bedew the scene; but grief and care
In wildest fury hae made bare
My peace, my hope, for ever!