Song.
The gloomy night is gathering fast,1
Loud roars the wild inconstant blast,2
Yon murky cloud is foul with rain,3
I see it driving o’er the plain ;4
The hunter now has left the moor,5
The scatter’d coveys meet secure,6
While here I wander, press’d with care,7
Along the lonely banks of Ayr.8
The autumn mourns her ripening corn9
By early winter’s ravage torn ;10
Across her placid, azure sky,11
She sees the scowling tempest fly :12
Chill runs my blood to hear it rave,13
I think upon the stormy wave,14
Where many a danger I must dare,15
Far from the bonnie banks of Ayr.16
’Tis not the surging billow’s roar,17
’Tis not that fatal deadly shore ;18
Though death in every shape appear,19
The wretched have no more to fear :20
But round my heart the ties are bound,21
That heart transpierc’d with many a wound ;22
These bleed afresh, those ties I tear,23
To leave the bonnie banks of Ayr.24
Farewell ! old Coila’s hills and dales,25
Her healthy moors and winding vales ;26
The scenes where wretched fancy roves,27
Pursuing past, unhappy loves !28
Farewell, my friends ! Farewell, my foes !29
My peace with these, my love with those—30
The bursting tears my heart declare ;31
Farewell, the bonnie banks of Ayr.32