Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Elegy on the late Miss Burnet

Robert Burns

“Elegy on the late Miss Burnet” as printed in The Poetical Works of Robert Burns (1887).

Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics Text 145 1887 · historical text
Public domainScottish songSong lyrics
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Poetical Works of Robert Burns, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

Life ne'er exulted in so rich a prize

As Burnet, lovely from her native skies;

Nor envious death so triumph'd in a blow,

As that which laid th' accomplish'd Burnet low.

Verse 2

Thy form and mind, sweet maid, can I forget?

In richest ore the brightest jewel set!

In thee, high Heaven above was truest shown,

As by his noblest work the Godhead best is known.

Verse 3

In vain ye flaunt in summer's pride, ye groves;

Thou crystal streamlet with thy flowery shore,

Ye woodland choir that chant your idle loves,

Ye cease to charm—Eliza is no more!

Verse 4

Ye heathy wastes, immix'd with reedy fens;

Ye mossy streams, with sedge and rushes stor'd;

Ye rugged cliffs o'erhanging dreary glens,

To you I fly, ye with my soul accord.

Verse 5

Princes, whose cumbrous pride was all their worth,

Shall venal lays their pompous exit hail?

And thou, sweet excellence! forsake our earth,

And not a Muse in honest grief bewail?

Verse 6

We saw thee shine in youth and beauty's pride,

And virtue's light, that beams beyond the spheres:

But the sun eclips'd at morning tide,

Thou left'st us darkling in a world of tears.

Verse 7

The parent's heart that nestled fond in thee,

That heart how sunk, a prey to grief and care;

So deckt the woodbine sweet yon aged tree,

So from it ravish'd, leaves it bleak and bare.

Credits

Written by Robert Burns

Words by Robert Burns. Historical text published in The Poetical Works of Robert Burns (1887); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Poetical Works of Robert Burns (1887), “Elegy on the late Miss Burnet”

Every text in this 1887 collected edition is by Robert Burns (1759-1796), who died more than 230 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide; the edition carries a Wikisource PD-old determination and a pre-1931 United States publication.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

View copyright evidence · Transcription terms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Retrieved 2026-10-25. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
Keep tracing

More from Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics.

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