“Handsome Nell”
“Handsome Nell was the first poem that Burns wrote. He was fifteen and the subject of his admiration was the fourteen year old Nelly Kilpatrick, the daughter of a blacksmith near Mount Oliphant. It was written in the autumn of 1773.”
O, once I lov’d a bonie lass,
Ay, and I love her still!
And whilst that virtue warms my breast,
I’ll love my handsome Nell.
As bonie lasses I hae seen,
And monie full as braw,
But for a modest gracefu’ mien
The like I never saw.
A bonie lass, I will confess,
Is pleasant to the e’e;
But without some better qualities
She’s no a lass for me.
But Nelly’s looks are blythe and sweet,
And, what is best of a’,
Her reputation is complete
And fair without a flaw.
She dresses ay sae clean and neat,
Both decent and genteel;
And then there’s something in her gait
Gars onie dress look weel.
A gaudy dress and gentle air
May slightly touch the heart;
But it’s innocence and modesty
That polishes the dart.
‘Tis this in Nelly pleases me,
‘Tis this enchants my soul;
For absolutely in my breast
She reigns without controul.” Robert Burns.
Excerpted from Robert Burns [In Your Pocket].
Publisher: Waverly Books, 144 Port Dundas Road, Glasgow, G4 OHZ
Islander..
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