[Page 226]

'TWAS WHEN THE SUN SLID DOWN YON HILL.

Air Ettrick Banks.
1 'TWAS when the sun slid down yon hill,
2 And Evening wander'd through the dale,
3 When busy life was growing still,
4 And homeward swam the milking pail;
5 'Twas then I sought the murmuring stream,
6 That seem'd like me to talk of woes,
7 And lengthen out life's weary dream,
8 Which on like its dull current flows.
9 Why dwells the soul on pleasures past?
10 Why think I Marion once was true?
11 Those fleeting joys that fled so fast,
12 Why should fond fancy still renew?
13 When fortune drove me far away,
14 My heart, dear Marion, dwelt with thee;
[Page 227]
15 E'en now methinks I hear thee say,
16 Wilt thou, dear youth, remember me?
17 O yes! I cried; no change of place,
18 Nor favouring fortune's better day,
19 Can e'er erase thy lovely face,
20 Or wear thy heart-stamp'd form away.
21 Though mountains rise, and oceans roar,
22 They'll prove but feeble bars to me;
23 In soul I'll seek my native shore,
24 And wander every-where with thee.
25 And still, dull absence to deceive,
26 My thoughts fled to each former scene;
27 And fancy fondly made believe
28 I was again where once I'd been!
29 I tended Marion's evening walk;
30 We sat beneath the trysting tree;
31 I saw her smile, and heard her talk,
32 And vow to love and live for me!
33 But time and absence both conspir'd,
34 And Marion's truth forgot its vow;
35 And Fashion many a wish acquir'd,
36 That turns to wants we knew not how.
37 O Marion! could I e'er have thought
38 That Splendour would have rivall'd me,
39 This foolish heart I ne'er had taught
40 To think, as it still thinks, on thee!
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41 Still through my heart thy image strays;
42 Thy breath is in each breeze that blows;
43 Thy smile, thy song, in by-past days
44 In Memory's page more vivid glows!
45 So long my thoughts with thee have dwelt,
46 They're far the dearest part of me;
47 For, O! this heart too long has felt
48 It loves and only lives for thee!

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Title (in Source Edition): 'TWAS WHEN THE SUN SLID DOWN YON HILL.
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Genres: song

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Blamire, Susanna, 1747-1794. The Poetical Works of Miss Susanna Blamire “The muse of Cumberland.” Now for the first time collected by Henry Lonsdale, M.D. with a preface, memoir, and notes by Patrick Maxwell, ... Edinburgh: John Menzies, 61 Princes Street; R. Tyas, London; D. Robertson, Glasgow; and C. Thurnam, Carlisle. MDCCCXLII., 1842, pp. 226-228.  (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [42.256].)

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Typography, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation have been cautiously modernized. The source of the text is given and all significant editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. This ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.

Other works by Susanna Blamire