Poem by Robert Nicoll

Youth's Dreams

A PLEASANT thing it is to mind
    O' youthfu' thoughts an' things,—
To pu' the fruit that on the tree
    Of memory ripely hings,—
To live again the happiest hours
    Of happy days gane by,—
To dream again as I ha'e dreamed
    When I was herdin' kye!

Thae days I thought, that far awa',
    Where hill an' sky seem met,
The bounds o' this maist glorious earth
    On mountain-taps were set,—
That sun an' moon, an' blinkin' stars
    Shone down frae heaven high
To light earth's garden: sae I dreamed
    When I was herdin' kye!

I thought the little burnies ran,
    An' sang the while to me!
To glad me, flowers came on the earth
    And leaves upon the tree,—
An' heather on the muirland grew,
    An' tarns in glens did lie:
Of beauteous things like these I dreamed
    When I was herdin' kye!

Sae weel I lo'ed a' things of earth!—
    The trees—the buds—the flowers—
The sun—the moon—the lochs an' glens—
    The spring's an' summer's hours!
A wither'd woodland twig would bring
    The tears into my eye:—
Laugh on! but there are souls of love
    In laddies herdin' kye!

O! weel I mind how I would muse,
    And think, had I the power,
How happy, happy I would make
    Ilk heart the warld o'er!
The gift unendin' happiness—
    The joyful giver I!—
So pure and holy were my dreams
    When I was herdin' kye!

A silver stream o' purest love
    Ran through my bosom then;
It yearn'd to bless all human things—
    To love all living men;
Yet scornfully the thoughtless fool
    Would pass the laddie by:
But O!  I bless the happy time
    When I was herdin' kye!

1. Fiddler Johnnie
2. The Place That I Love Best
3. Our Auld Hearthstane
4. Janet Macbean
5. The Folk o’ Ochtergaen

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