XXIX. Mary!

Tune—“Blue Bonnets.”

[In the original manuscript Burns calls this song “A Prayer for Mary;” his Highland Mary is supposed to be the inspirer.]

I.

Powers celestial! whose protection
Ever guards the virtuous fair,
While in distant climes I wander,
Let my Mary be your care:
Let her form sae fair and faultless,
Fair and faultless as your own,
Let my Mary’s kindred spirit
Draw your choicest influence down.

II.

Make the gales you waft around her
Soft and peaceful as her breast;
Breathing in the breeze that fans her,
Soothe her bosom into rest:
Guardian angels! O protect her,
When in distant lands I roam;
To realms unknown while fate exiles me,
Make her bosom still my home.