Poems and Songs of Robert Burns

Chapter 381: When She Cam’ Ben She Bobbed

Open in WeRead

Explore more books like this:

About This Book

The collection assembles lyrical songs, narrative poems, satirical pieces, epistles, epitaphs, and fragments that shift between convivial drinking verses, tender laments, and comic storytelling. Many lyrics were shaped to traditional airs and preserve vernacular speech, while longer works portray rural labor, domestic scenes, and compassionate encounters with animals. Satire targets religious hypocrisy and social pretension, and several poems take a direct, personal tone of moral reflection or affectionate address. The selections alternate moods and forms, emphasizing melodic phrasing and a versatile technical range.

When She Cam’ Ben She Bobbed

O when she cam’ ben she bobbed fu’ law, O when she cam’ ben she bobbed fu’ law, And when she cam’ ben, she kiss’d Cockpen, And syne denied she did it at a’. And was na Cockpen right saucy witha’? And was na Cockpen right saucy witha’? In leaving the daughter of a lord, And kissin’ a collier lassie an’ a’! O never look down, my lassie, at a’, O never look down, my lassie, at a’, Thy lips are as sweet, and thy figure complete, As the finest dame in castle or ha’. Tho’ thou has nae silk, and holland sae sma’, Tho’ thou has nae silk, and holland sae sma’, Thy coat and thy sark are thy ain handiwark, And lady Jean was never sae braw.