O tell me the way for to woo/The Flowers of the Forest

by Alicia Cockburn

For other versions of this work, see The Flowers of the Forest (Cockburn).

THE FLOWERS OF THE FOREST.

I’ve seen the smiling of fortune beguiling;
I’ve tasted her favoure, and felt her decay;
Sweet is her blessing, and kind her caressing,
But soon it is fled—it is fled far awae.
I've seen the forest adorn'd the foremost,
With flowers of the fairest, both pleasant and gay;
Full sweet was their blooming, their scent the air
perfuming,
But now they are wither'd and a’ wede awae.

I’ve seen the morning with gold the hills adorning
And the red storm roaring before the parting day:
I’ve seen Tweed’s silver streams, glittering in the
sunnie beams,
Turn drumlie and dark as they roll’d on their way.
O fickle fortune, why this cruel sporting?
Why thus perplex us, poor sons of a day?
Thy frowns cannot fear me, thy smiles cannot
cheer me.
Since the flowers of the forest are a’ wede awae.