Phillis The Queen O’ The Fair
1793
Type: Song
Tune: The Muckin o’ Geordie’s Byre.
Adown winding Nith I did wander,
To mark the sweet flowers as they spring;
Adown winding Nith I did wander,
Of Phillis to muse and to sing.
Chorus.-Awa’ wi’ your belles and your beauties,
They never wi’ her can compare,
Whaever has met wi’ my Phillis,
Has met wi’ the queen o’ the fair.
The daisy amus’d my fond fancy,
So artless, so simple, so wild;
Thou emblem, said I, o’ my Phillis-
For she is Simplicity’s child.
Awa’ wi’ your belles, &c.
The rose-bud’s the blush o’ my charmer,
Her sweet balmy lip when ’tis prest:
How fair and how pure is the lily!
But fairer and purer her breast.
Awa’ wi’ your belles, &c.
Yon knot of gay flowers in the arbour,
They ne’er wi’ my Phillis can vie:
Her breath is the breath of the woodbine,
Its dew-drop o’ diamond her eye.
Awa’ wi’ your belles, &c.
Her voice is the song o’ the morning,
That wakes thro’ the green-spreading grove
When Phoebus peeps over the mountains,
On music, and pleasure, and love.
Awa’ wi’ your belles, &c.
But beauty, how frail and how fleeting!
The bloom of a fine summer’s day;
While worth in the mind o’ my Phillis,
Will flourish without a decay.
Awa’ wi’ your belles, &c.
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Robert Burns, (born January 25, 1759, Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland—died July 21, 1796, Dumfries, Dumfriesshire), national poet of Scotland. He wrote lyrics, ballads and songs in Scots and in English. He was also notable for his amorous adventures and his rebellion against religion and morality.