The Book of Scottish Song/I canna smile

I canna smile.

[James Murray.—Here first printed.—Tune, "I canna leave my Highland hame."]

I canna smile, I canna sing,
I ha'e nae heart for lightsome glee,
I downa thole the mirth o' spring,
Sin' they ha'e ta'en my lad frae me.
I fain wad sigh and sab again,
'Twad maybe help to soothe my care;
I fain wad greet to drown my pain,
For, oh! my heart is beating sair.

When wandering up the flowery dell,
To meet wi' him that's far away,
I heard a widow'd mavis tell
Its sorrows in a doolfu' lay.
I could ha'e wept till day's decline,
To hear its note of wild despair—
Now a' that birdie's grief is mine,
And I can sab and greet nae mair.

Aince mair I'll seek our trysting tree,
And wander o'er our haunts again;
Aince mair I'll climb the height sae hie,
And look far o'er the pathless main—
I'll look to where the welkin dark
Seems resting on the azure sea,
Where last I saw the fading bark
That wafted far my love frae me.

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