Minstrelsy of the Scottish border - National Library of Scotland

THE SCOTTISH BOIJDKU. :'>7')
Alas ! the hour of bhss is past,
For hark! the din of" discord rins ;
War's clarion sounds, Joy hears the blast.
And ti'embling plies his radiant wings.
And must sad Eva lose her lord ?
And must he seek the martial plain ?
Oh ! see, she brings his casque and sword !
Oh ! hark, she pours her plaintive strain !
" Blest is the village damsePs fate,
" Though poor and low her station be ;
" Safe from the cares which haunt the great,
" Safe from the cares which torture me !
No doubting fear, no cruel j)ain,
" No dread suspense her breast alarms;
No tyrant honour rules her swain,
" And tears him from her folding arms.
She, careless wandering 'midst the rocks,
" In pleasing toil consumes the day
And tends her goats, or feeds her flocks,
" Or joins her rustic lover's lay.
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