"
MATTHEW ARNOLD.
THE BANKS O' DOON.
"The Banks o' Doon," by Robert Burns (1759-96). Bonnie Doon is in the
southwestern part of Scotland. Robert Burns's old home it close to it.
The house has low walls, a thatched roof, and only two rooms. Alloway
Kirk and the two bridges so famous in Robert Burns's verse are near by.
This is an enchanted land, and the Scotch people for miles around Ayr
speak of the poet with sincere affection. Burns, more than any other
poet, has thrown the enchantment of poetry over his own locality.
Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon,
How can ye blume sae fair!
How can ye chant, ye little birds,
And I sae fu' o' care.
Thou'lt break my heart, thou bonnie bird
That sings upon the bough;
Thou minds me o' the happy days
When my fause luve was true.
Thou'lt break my heart, thou bonnie bird
That sings beside thy mate;
For sae I sat, and sae I sang,
And wist na o' my fate.
Aft hae I rov'd by bonnie Doon,
To see the woodbine twine,
And ilka bird sang o' its love,
And sae did I o' mine.
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