The Book of Scottish Song/Ae fond kiss

Ae fond kiss.

[This impassioned lyric was written by Burns at a time when his "Clarinda" (Agnes M'Lehose) contemplated going to the West Indies. "The following exquisitely affecting stanza," says Sir Walter Scott, "contains the essence of a thousand love-tales:

Had we never loved sae kindly,
Had we never loved sae blindly,
Never met—or never parted,
We had ne'er been broken-hearted."

Byron adopted these lines as the motto to "The Bride of Abydos." Burns directed the song to be set in Johnson's Museum to an old Highland tune called "Rory Dall's Port." Rory Dall, or Roderick Morison, was a noted blind harper in the Highlands. Port, in Gaelic, signifies an air of a plaintive strain.]

Ae fond kiss, and then we sever;
Ae farewell, alas! for ever!
Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,
Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee.
Who shall say that fortune grieves him
While the star of hope she leaves him?
Me, nae cheerfu' twinkle lights me;
Dark despair around benights me.

I'll ne'er blame my partial fancy,
Naething could resist my Nancy;
But to see her, was to love her;
Love but her, and love for ever.
Had we never loved sae kindly,
Had we never loved sae blindly,
Never met—or never parted,
We had ne'er been broken-hearted.

Fare thee weel, thou first and fairest!
Fare thee weel, thou best and dearest!
Thine be ilka joy and treasure,
Peace, enjoyment, love, and pleasure!
Ae fond kiss, and then we sever;
Ae farewell, alas! for ever!
Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,
Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee.

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