The Lover's Salute.
[Burns, while he admired the air of "Deil tak' the wars," thought the words of Tom D'Urfey a poor imitation of Scottish song, as indeed they are, and wrote the following stanzas to the same tune, for Thomson's collection. The heroine was Miss Philadelphia Macmurdo.]
Sleep'st thou or wak'st thou, fairest creature?
Rosy morn now lifts his eye,
Numbering ilka bud which Nature
Waters wi' the tears of joy:
Now through the leafy woods,
And by the reeking floods,
Wild Nature's tenants freely, gladly stray;
The lintwhite in his bower
Chants o'er the breathing flower;
The laverock to the sky
Ascends wi' sangs of joy,
While the sun and thou arise, to bless the day.
Phœbus gilding the brow o' morning,
Banishes ilka darksome shade,
Nature gladdening and adorning;
Such to me my lovely maid.
When absent frae my fair,
The murky shades o' care
With starless gloom o'ercast my sullen sky;
But when, in beauty's light,
She meets my ravished sight,
When through my very heart
Her beaming glories dart;
'Tis then I wake to life, to light, to joy.