Poem by Robert Burns

When First I Saw

WHEN first I saw fair Jeanie’s face,
  I couldna tell what ailed me,
My heart went fluttering pit-a-pet,
  My een they almost failed me.

She’s aye sae neat, sae trim, sae tight,
  All grace does round her hover;
Ae look deprived me o’ my heart,
  And I became a lover.

  She’s aye, aye sae blythe, sae gay,
    She’s aye so blythe and cheerie:
  She’s aye sae bonnie, blythe, and gay,
    O gin I were her dearie!

Had I Dundas’s whole estate,
  Or Hopetoun’s wealth to shine in;
Did warlike laurels crown my brow,
  Or humbler bays entwining-
I’d lay them a’ at Jeanie’s feet,
  Could I but hope to move her,
And prouder than a belted knight,
  I’d be my Jeanie’s lover.

But sair I fear some happier swain
  Has gained sweet Jeanie’s favour:
If so, may every bliss be hers,
  Though I maun never have her:
But gang she east, or gang she west,
  ‘Twixt Forth and Tweed all over,
While men have eyes, or ears, or taste,
  She’ll always find a lover.

1. I Gaed a Waefu' Gate Yestreen
2. Blythe Was She
3. Farewell to Ballochmyle
4. Lines Written under the Picture of Miss Burns
5. Young Jamie, Pride of A’ the Plain

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