My Peggy’s Face.
[Written by Burns in 1787, for Johnson's Museum, but not brought out there till the last volume. Mr. George Thomson inserted it in the 3d vol. of the 1st edition of his collection, changing the name "Peggy" to that of "Mary," and directing the song to be sung to the tune of "The Ewie wi' the crooked horn." The heroine of the song was Miss Margaret Chalmers, youngest daughter of James Chalmers, Esq. of England, and one of the poet's most confidential female correspondents. She married, in Dec. 1788, Lewis Hay, Esq. Edinburgh, and afterwards long resided in the south of France.]
My Peggy's face, my Peggy's form,
The frost of hermit age might warm;
My Peggy's worth, my Peggy's mind,
Might charm the first of human kind.
I love my Pegery's angel air,
Her face so truly heav'nly fair,
Her native grace so void of art,
But I adore my Peggy's heart.
The lily's hue, the rose's dye,
The kindling lustre of an eye;
Who but owns their magic sway!
Who but knows they all decay!
The tender thrill, the pitying tear,
The gen'rous purpose, nobly dear,
The gentle look, that rage disarms—
These are all immortal charms.