Traditional: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

I've loved thee, love

Traditional

“I've loved thee, love” as printed in The Book of Scottish Song (1843).

Traditional: Collected Lyrics Text 178 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

I've loved thee, love, lang, I've loved thee, love, deep;

I love thee awake, love, I love thee asleep;

While I think, while I feel, while I smile, while I weep,

By day, or by night, or in dream!

Though never by me, love, your praise has been sung,

Though never love told you were charming and young,

You dwell in my heart, love, and not on my tongue,

And there are you dweller supreme.

Great nature boasts not, love, the depth of her hoards,

The air never tells of the life it affords,

The sun gives its light, love, and utters no words;

Now sun and air surely are true.

My eyes cannot look, love, my lips cannot tell,

The tide of my heart in its ebb or its swell;

I cannot let others see how I love well,

Yet still do I worship but you.

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, “I've loved thee, love”

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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