Dainty Davie
written in 1793
Dainty Davie - meaning Summary
Springtime Courtship Song
A speaker celebrates carefree springtime courtship, inviting Davie to meet on a hillside and share the day and night together. The poem situates their love amid sensory details—flowers, birds, breezes, and falling waters—to evoke natural pleasure and youthful wandering. Repetition of the refrain reinforces intimacy and a playful, teasing tone while framing the poem as a simple love-song. The speaker’s devotion is steady and uncomplicated: daytime companionship and evening closeness are presented as the heart of their relationship. Overall the poem foregrounds immediate pleasure and affectionate constancy in nature’s leisure.
Read Complete AnalysesNow rosy May comes in wi' flowers, To deck her gay, green-spreading bowers; And now comes in the happy hours, To wander wi' my Davie. Meet me on the warlock knowe , Dainty Davie, Dainty Davie; There I'll spend the day wi' you, My ain dear Dainty Davie. The crystal waters round us fa' , The merry birds are lovers a' , The scented breezes round us blaw , A wandering wi' my Davie. As purple morning starts the hare, To steal upon her early fare, Then thro' the dews I will repair, To meet my faithfu' Davie. When day, expiring in the west, The curtain draws o' Nature's rest, I flee to his arms I loe' the best, And that's my ain dear Davie. Meet me on the warlock knowe , Dainty Davie, Dainty Davie; There I'll spend the day wi' you, My ain dear Dainty Davie.
Feel free to be first to leave comment.