by John Buchan (1875 - 1940)
The eternal feminine
Language: English
When I was a freckled bit bairn And cam in frae my ploys to the fire, Wi' my buits a' clamjamphried wi' shairn And my jaicket a' speldered wi' mire, I got gloomin' and glunchin' and paiks, And nae bite frae the press or the pan, And my auld grannie said as she skelped me to bed, 'Hech, sirs, what a burden is man!' When I was a lang-leggit lad, At waddin's and kirns a gey cheild, I hae happit a lass in my maud And gone cauldrife that she micht hae beild, And convoyed her bye bogles and stirks, A kiss at the hindmost my plan; But a' that I fand was the wecht o' her hand, And 'Hech, sirs, what a burden is man!' When Ailie and me were made yin We set up in a canty bit cot; Sair wrocht we day oot and day in, We were unco content wi' oor lot. But whiles wi' a neebor I'd tak A gless that my heid couldna stan'; Syne she'd greet for a week, and nae word wad she speak But 'Hech, sirs, what a burden is man!' She dee'd, and my dochter and me For the lave wi' ilk ither maun shift. Nae tentier lass could ye see; The wooers cam doun like a drift; But sune wi' an unco blae glower Frae the doorstep they rade and they ran, And she sigh to hersel', as she gae'd to the well 'Hech sirs, what a burden is man!' She's mairrit by noo and she's got A white-heided lass o' her ain. White-heided mysel, as I stot Roond the doors o' her shouther I'm fain. What think ye that wean said yestreen? I'll tell ye, believe't if ye can; She primmed up her mou' and said saft as a doo, 'Hech, sirs, what a burden is man!'
Text Authorship:
- by John Buchan (1875 - 1940), "The eternal feminine", appears in Poems: Scots and English, first published 1917, rev. 1936 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by David Campbell Dorward (b. 1933), "The eternal feminine" [bass and piano], from Three Scotch Songs [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-02-02
Line count: 40
Word count: 309