Lord Eglintoun's Auld Man

The auld guidman came hame at night
Sair wearied wi' the way ;
His looks were like an evening bright,
His hair was siller grey.
He spak o' days lang past an' gane,
When life beat high in every vein ;
When he was foremost on the plain
On every blithesome day.

' Then blithely blushed the morning dawn.

An' gay the gloaming fell ;
For sweet content led aye the van,
An' soothed the passions well :
Till wounded by a gilded dart,
When Jeanie's een subdued my heart,
I cherished aye the pleasing smart—
Mair sweet than I can tell.

" We had our griefs, we had our joys,
In life's uneasy way ;
We nourished virtuous girls an' boys,
That now are far away ;
An' she, my best, my dearest part,
The sharer o' ilk joy an' smart,
Each wish an' weakness o' my heart,
Lies mouldering in the clay.

" The life o' man's a winter day,
Look back, 'tis gone as soon ;
But yet his pleasures halve the way,
An' fly before 'tis noon :
But conscious virtue still maintains
The honest heart through toils an' pains ;
An' hope o' better days remains,
An' hauds the heart aboon."