I canna smile

I canna smile, I canna sing,

I ha'e nae heart for lightsome glee,

I downa thole the mirth o' spring,

Sin' they ha'e ta'en my lad frae me.

I fain wad sigh and sab again,

'Twad maybe help to soothe my care;

I fain wad greet to drown my pain,

For, oh! my heart is beating sair.

When wandering up the flowery dell,

To meet wi' him that's far away,

I heard a widow'd mavis tell

Its sorrows in a doolfu' lay.

I could ha'e wept till day's decline,

To hear its note of wild despair—

Now a' that birdie's grief is mine,

And I can sab and greet nae mair.

Aince mair I'll seek our trysting tree,

And wander o'er our haunts again;

Aince mair I'll climb the height sae hie,

And look far o'er the pathless main—

I'll look to where the welkin dark

Seems resting on the azure sea,

Where last I saw the fading bark

That wafted far my love frae me.