494. Song—Farewell thou stream that winding flows
494. Song—Farewell thou stream that winding flows
Robert Burns
FAREWELL, thou stream that winding flows
Around Eliza’s dwelling;
O mem’ry! spare the cruel thoes
Within my bosom swelling.
Condemn’d to drag a hopeless chain
And yet in secret languish;
To feel a fire in every vein,
Nor dare disclose my anguish.
Love’s veriest wretch, unseen, unknown,
I fain my griefs would cover;
The bursting sigh, th’ unweeting groan,
Betray the hapless lover.
I know thou doom’st me to despair,
Nor wilt, nor canst relieve me;
But, O Eliza, hear one prayer—
For pity’s sake forgive me!
The music of thy voice I heard,
Nor wist while it enslav’d me;
I saw thine eyes, yet nothing fear’d,
Till fears no more had sav’d me:
Th’ unwary sailor thus, aghast
The wheeling torrent viewing,
’Mid circling horrors sinks at last,
In overwhelming ruin.
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Public domain text via the PoetryDB open archive.
