Courtship

Yestreen on Cample's bonnie flood
The summer moon was shining;
While on a bank in Chrichope wood
Two lovers were reclining:
They spak' o' youth, an' hoary age,
O' time how swiftly fleeting,
Of ilka thing, in sooth, but ane,--
The reason of their meeting!

When Willie thoucht his heart was firm,
An' might declare its feeling,
A glance frae Bessy's starry een
Sent a' his senses reeling;
For aye when he essay'd to speak,
An' she prepared to hear him,
The thought in crimson dyed his cheek,
But words would no come near him!

'Tis ever thus that love is taught
By his divinest teacher;
He silent adoration seeks,
But shuns the prosy preacher.
Now read me right, ye gentle anes,
Nor deem my lesson hollow;
The deepest river silent rins,
The babbling brook is shallow.