SONG. To an old Scots Tune. Behold the hour, the boat, arrive! Endless and deep shall be my grief; Nae ray o' comfort shall I see; But this most precious, dear belief! That thou wilt still remember me. Alang the solitary shore, Where fleeting sea-fowl round me cry, Happy, thou Indian grove, I'll say, Where now my Nancy's path shall be ! O tell me, does she muse on me!!! SONG. To a charming plaintive Scots Air. Ance mair I hail thee, thou gloomy December ! Ance mair I hail thee wi' sorrow and care; Sad was the parting thou mak'st me remember, Parting wi' Nancy, oh, ne'er to meet mair! Fond lovers' parting is sweet, painful pleasure, The rest of this song is on the wheels. The poet afterwards added the following verses : Wild as the winter now tearing the forest, LETTER XLVII. CLARINDA TO SYLVANDER. 25th January, 1792. Agitated, hurried to death, I sit down to write a few lines to you, my ever dear, dear friend! We are ordered aboard on Saturday,-to sail on Sunday. And now, my dearest sir, I have a few things to say to you, as the last advice of her, who could have lived or died with you! I am happy to know of your applying so steadily to the business you have engaged in; but, oh remember, this life is a short, passing scene! Seek God's favour,-keep His Commandments,-be solicitous to prepare for a happy eternity! There, I trust, we will meet, in perfect and never-ending bliss. Read my former letters attentively let the religious tenets there expressed sink deep into your mind; meditate on them with candour, and your accurate judgment must be convinced that they accord with the words of Eternal Truth! Laugh no more at holy things, or holy men: remember, "without holiness, no man shall see God." Another thing, and I have done: as you value my peace, do not write me to Jamaica, until I let you know you may with safety. Write Mary often. She feels for you! and judges of your present feelings by her own. I am sure you will be happy to hear of my happiness: and I trust you will-soon. If there is time, you may drop me a to inform me if you get this, and an other letter I wrote you, dated the 21st, which I am afraid of having been neglected to be put into the office. So it was the Roselle you were to have gone in! I read your letter to-day, and reflected deeply on the ways of Heaven! To us they oft appear dark and doubtful; but let us do our duty faithfully, and, sooner or later, we will have our reward, because "the Lord God Omnipotent reigns :" every upright mind has here cause to rejoice-and now, adieu. May Almighty God bless you and yours! take you into His blessed favour here, and afterwards receive you into His glory! Farewell. I will ever remain Your real friend, A. M. Burns's thoughts often reverted to his fair friends and Edinburgh society. In February, 1792, Mrs. M'Lehose sailed for Jamaica, about two months after the Poet's final interview with her. In the course of the ensuing summer, he bewailed her absence in the following pastoral: MY NANNIE'S AWA'. TUNE-There'll never be peace, &c. I. Now in her green mantle blithe Nature arrays, II. The snaw-drap and primrose our woodlands adorn, They pain my sad bosom, sae sweetly they blaw, III. Thou laverock that springs frae the dews of the lawn, The shepherd to warn o' the gray-breaking dawn; And thou mellow mavis that hails the night fa', Give over for pity-my Nannie's awa'. IV. Come Autumn, sae pensive, in yellow and gray, |