Songs and lyrics of Robert Burns

Chapter 58: AH, CHLORIS

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About This Book

A collected selection of the poet's songs and shorter lyrics presents his explorations of love, nature, rural Scottish life, patriotism, and social observation, often rendered in Scots dialect and intended for musical performance. The volume groups brief pieces alongside several longer poems, supplies a glossary of dialect terms and an index of first lines, and includes illustrative plates. Many lyrics evoke landscapes, domestic scenes, and communal gatherings, balancing tenderness and satire while varying tone from celebratory to elegiac. The arrangement favors lyrical vitality rather than strict chronology, offering readers both popular airs and more extended narrative poems within a single accessible anthology.

AH, CHLORIS

Ah, Chloris, since it may na be,

That thou of love wilt hear;

If from the lover thou maun flee,

Yet let the friend be dear.

Altho’ I love my Chloris mair

Than ever tongue could tell;

My passion I will ne’er declare,

I’ll say I wish thee well:

Tho’ a’ my daily care thou art,

And a’ my nightly dream,

I’ll hide the struggle in my heart,

And say it is esteem.