Traditional: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Ah, the poor Shepherd

Traditional

“Ah, the poor Shepherd” as printed in The Book of Scottish Song (1843).

Traditional: Collected Lyrics Text 21 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

Ah, the poor shepherd's mournful fate,

When doom'd to love and doom'd to languish,

To bear the scornful fair one's hate,

Nor dare disclose his anguish!

Yet eager looks and dying sighs

My secret soul discover,

While rapture, trembling through mine eyes,

Reveals how much I love her.

The tender glance, the reddening cheek,

O'erspread with rising blushes,

A thousand various ways they speak

A thousand various wishes.

For, oh! that form so heavenly fair,

Those languid eyes so sweetly smiling,

That artless blush and modest air

So fatally beguiling;

Thy every look, and every grace,

So charm, whene'er I view thee,

Till death o'ertake me in the chase

Still will my hopes pursue thee.

Then, when my tedious hours are past,

Be this last blessing given,

Low at thy feet to breathe my last,

And die in sight of heaven.

Credits

Written by Traditional

Traditional words. 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, “Ah, the poor Shepherd”

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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