Traditional: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Lay of the Hopeless

Traditional

“Lay of the Hopeless” as printed in The Book of Scottish Song (1843).

Traditional: Collected Lyrics Text 227 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! would that the wind that is sweeping now

O'er the restless and weary wave,

Were swaying the leaves of the cypress-bough

O'er the calm of my early grave!

And my heart, with its pulses of fire and life,

Oh! would it were still as stone!

I am weary, weary of all the strife,

And the selfish world I've known.

I've drunk up bliss from a mantling cup,

When youth and joy were mine;

But the cold black dregs are floating up,

Instead of the laughing wine;

And life hath lost its loveliness,

And youth hath spent its hour,

And pleasure palls like bitterness,

And hope hath not a flower.

And love! was it not a glorious eye

That smiled on my early dream?

It is closed for aye where the long weeds sigh

In the churchyard by the stream:

And fame—oh! mine were gorgeous hopes

Of a flashing and young renown:

But early, early the flower-leaf drops

From the withering seed-cup down.

And beauty! have I not worshipp'd all

Her shining creations well?

The rock—the wood—the waterfall,

Where light or where love might dwell.

But over all, and on my heart

The mildew hath faUen sadly—

I have no spirit, I have no part

In the earth that smiles so gladly!

I only sigh for a quiet bright spot

In the churchyard by the stream,

Whereon the morning sunbeams float,

And the stars at midnight dream:

Where only nature's sounds may wake

The sacred and silent air,

And only her beautiful things may break

Through the long grass gathering there!

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, “Lay of the Hopeless”

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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