Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Monody on a Lady famed for her Caprice

Robert Burns

“Monody on a Lady famed for her Caprice” as printed in The Poetical Works of Robert Burns (1887).

Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics Text 229 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

How cold is that bosom which folly once fired,

How pale is that cheek where the rouge lately glisten'd!

How silent that tongue which the echoes oft tir'd,

How dull is that ear which to flattery so listen'd!

Verse 2

If sorrow and anguish their exit await,

From friendship and dearest affection remov'd;

How doubly severer, Eliza, thy fate,

Thou diedst unwept, as thou livedst unlov'd.

Verse 3

Loves, Graces, and Virtues, I call not on you;

So shy, grave, and distant, ye shed not a tear:

But come, all ye offspring of Folly so true,

And flowers let us cull for Eliza's cold bier.

Verse 4

We'll search thro' the garden for each silly flower,

We'll roam through the forest for each idle weed;

But chiefly the nettle, so typical, shower,

For none e'er approach'd her but rued the rash deed.

Verse 5

We'll sculpture the marble, we'll measure the lay;

Here Vanity strums on her idiot lyre;

There keen Indignation shall dart on her prey,

Which spurning Contempt shall redeem from his ire.

Verse 6

THE EPITAPH.

Here lies, now a prey to insulting neglect,

What once was a butterfly, gay in life's beam:

Want only of wisdom denied her respect,

Want only of goodness, denied her esteem.

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), “Monody on a Lady famed for her Caprice”

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

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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.
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