Here Awa', There Awa'
written in 1792
Here Awa', There Awa' - meaning Summary
Longing for a Faithful Lover
This short Scots lyric expresses a speaker's yearning and relief at the return of a beloved named Willie. Using seasonal contrast—harsh winter at parting versus welcome summer—the poem links natural weather to the speaker's emotional state. Storms and waves are personified as obstacles, while breezes and summer signify reunion. The final stanza admits a dread of faithlessness: the speaker prefers to remain believing in Willie's constancy, even in doubt. Overall it is a plain, heartfelt declaration of love, longing, and the wish to preserve faith in the beloved.
Read Complete AnalysesHere awa', there awa', wandering, Willie, Here awa', there awa', haud awa' hame; Come to my bosom, my ae only deary, Tell me thou bring'st me my Willie the same. Loud tho' the winter blew cauld on our parting, 'Twas na the blast brought the tear in my e'e: Welcome now Simmer, and welcome my Willie; The Simmer to Nature, my Willie to me. Rest, ye wild storms, in the cave o' your slumbers, How you dread howling a lover alarms! Wauken, ye breezes! row gently, ye billows! And waft my dear Laddie ance mair to my arms. But oh, if he's faithless, and minds na his Nanie, Flow still between us, thou wide roaring main: May I never see it, may I never trow it, But, dying, believe that my Willie's my ain!
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