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Poems and Songs of Robert Burns

Chapter 536: O Wat Ye Wha’s In Yon Town
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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.

O Wat Ye Wha’s In Yon Town

Tune—“I’ll gang nae mair to yon toun.”
Chorus—O wat ye wha’s in yon town, Ye see the e’enin sun upon, The dearest maid’s in yon town, That e’ening sun is shining on. Now haply down yon gay green shaw, She wanders by yon spreading tree; How blest ye flowers that round her blaw, Ye catch the glances o’ her e’e! O wat ye wha’s, &c. How blest ye birds that round her sing, And welcome in the blooming year; And doubly welcome be the Spring, The season to my Jeanie dear. O wat ye wha’s, &c. The sun blinks blythe on yon town, Among the broomy braes sae green; But my delight in yon town, And dearest pleasure, is my Jean. O wat ye wha’s, &c. Without my Fair, not a’ the charms O’ Paradise could yield me joy; But give me Jeanie in my arms And welcome Lapland’s dreary sky! O wat ye wha’s, &c. My cave wad be a lover’s bower, Tho’ raging Winter rent the air; And she a lovely little flower, That I wad tent and shelter there. O wat ye wha’s, &c. O sweet is she in yon town, The sinkin, sun’s gane down upon; A fairer than’s in yon town, His setting beam ne’er shone upon. O wat ye wha’s, &c. If angry Fate is sworn my foe, And suff’ring I am doom’d to bear; I careless quit aught else below, But spare, O spare me Jeanie dear. O wat ye wha’s, &c. For while life’s dearest blood is warm, Ae thought frae her shall ne’er depart, And she, as fairest is her form, She has the truest, kindest heart. O wat ye wha’s, &c.