The Book of Scottish Song/O give me the ear

O give me the ear.

[J. Mitchell, Paisley. Air, "Oran an Oig."—This originally appeared in a small book of Proverbs published by Mr. John Neilson of Paisley.]

Oh give me the ear that is deaf to the ills,
Which the slanderer's tongue has in store;
And the eye that the moisture of pity distills,
When the good and the great are no more.
O give me the tongue that disdains to repeat
What envy so glibly will tell,
But responds to our joys when in friendship we meet
Bound the board, care's dark thoughts to dispell.

O give me the heart that can bleed for the woes
Which another is fated to feel—
And the hand that on penury freely bestows,
Yet the gift will as nobly conceal.
Give me these, and I vow in my journey through life,
Care ne'er will a shadow impart;
If Nature bestow on my friend and my wife,
Such an ear, such a tongue, such a heart.

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