Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics
299 / 519
Public-domain lyrics

Peggy's Charms (1)

Robert Burns

“Peggy's Charms (1)” as printed in The Poetical Works of Robert Burns (1887).

Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics Text 299 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

Where, braving angry winter's storms,

The lofty Ochels rise,

Far in their shade my Peggy's charms

First blest my wondering eyes.

As one who, by some savage stream,

A lonely gem surveys,

Astonish'd doubly, marks it beam

With art's most polish'd blaze.

Verse 2

Blest be the wild, sequester'd shade,

And blest the day and hour,

Where Peggy's charms I first survey'd,

When first I felt their pow'r!

The tyrant death with grim control

May seize my fleeting breath;

But tearing Peggy from my soul

Must be a stronger death.

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), “Peggy's Charms (1)”

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.

01A Rose-budPublic-domain lyrics02A red, red RosePublic-domain lyrics03Address to a LadyPublic-domain lyrics04AdieuPublic-domain lyrics