Living

I Gaed A Waefu’ Gate Yestreen

by Robert Burns 1759–1796

From Poems and Songs, 1789

Living

I gaed a waefu’ gate yestreen,
A gate, I fear, I’ll dearly rue;
I gat my death frae twa sweet een,
Twa lovely een o’bonie blue.

’Twas not her golden ringlets bright,
Her lips like roses wat wi’ dew,
Her heaving bosom, lily-white—
It was her een sae bonie blue.

She talk’d, she smil’d, my heart she wyl’d;
She charm’d my soul I wist na how;
And aye the stound, the deadly wound,
Cam frae her een so bonie blue.
But “spare to speak, and spare to speed;”
She’ll aiblins listen to my vow:
Should she refuse, I’ll lay my dead
To her twa een sae bonie blue.

MLA

Burns, Robert. “I Gaed A Waefu’ Gate Yestreen.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/burns/283/.

Chicago

Burns, Robert. “I Gaed A Waefu’ Gate Yestreen.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/burns/283/.

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