Poems and Songs of Robert Burns

  the last time i came o'er the moor
  the last time i came o'er the moor,
  and left maria's dwelling,
  what throes, what tortures passing cure,
  were in my bosom swelling:
  condemn'd to see my rival's reign,
  while i in secret languish;
  to feel a fire in every vein,
  yet dare not speak my anguish.
  love's veriest wretch, despairing, i
  fain, fain, my crime would cover;
  th' unweeting groan, the bursting sigh,
  betray the guilty lover.
  i know my doom must be despair,
  thou wilt nor canst relieve me;
  but oh, maria, hear my prayer,
  for pity's sake forgive me!
  the music of thy tongue i heard,
  nor wist while it enslav'd me;
  i saw thine eyes, yet nothing fear'd,
  till fear no more had sav'd me:
  the unwary sailor thus, aghast,
  the wheeling torrent viewing,
  'mid circling horrors yields at last
  to overwhelming ruin.