Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

I dream'd I lay

Robert Burns

“I dream'd I lay” as printed in The Book of Scottish Song (1843).

Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics Text 46 1843 · historical text
Public domainScottish songFolk
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Book of Scottish Song, edited by Alexander Whitelaw, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

I dream'd I lay where flowers were springing,

Gaily in the sunny beam;

List'ning to the wild birds singing,

By a falling, crystal stream:

Straight the sky grew black and daring;

Through the woods the whirlwinds rave;

Trees with aged arms were warring

O'er the swelling, drumlie wave.

Such was my life's deceitful morning,

Such the pleasures I enjoy'd:

But lang or noon, loud tempests storming

A' my flow'ry bliss destroy'd.

Though fickle fortune has deceiv'd me,

She promis'd fair, and perform'd but ill;

Of mony a joy and hope bereav'd me,

I bear a heart shall support me still.

Credits

Written by Robert Burns

Words by Robert Burns. Historical text published in The Book of Scottish Song (1843); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Book of Scottish Song (1843), edited by Alexander Whitelaw, “I dream'd I lay”

Every contribution in this 1843 anthology predates modern copyright terms by more than a century; any contributor died at least 130 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide (life+70 terms expired no later than 2020).

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 2026-10-12. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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