Thomas Pringle: Collected Lyrics
01 / 2
Public-domain lyrics

Love's Constancy

Thomas Pringle

“Love's Constancy” as printed in The Book of Scottish Song (1843).

Thomas Pringle: Collected Lyrics Text 1 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

Oh! not when hopes are brightest.

Is all love's sweet enchantment known;

Oh! not when hearts are lightest.

Is all fond woman's fervour shown:

But when life's clouds o'ertake us,

And the cold world is clothed in gloom

When summer friends forsake us,

The rose of love is best in bloom.

Love is no wandering vapour,

That lures astray with treacherous spark;

Love is no transient taper,

That lives an hour and leaves us dark:

But, like the lamp that lightens

The Greenland hut beneath the snow,

The bosom's home it brightens,

When all beside is chill below.

Credits

Written by Thomas Pringle

Words by Thomas Pringle. 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, “Love's Constancy”

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.
Keep tracing

More from Thomas Pringle: Collected Lyrics.

02Maid of my HeartPublic-domain lyrics