Song Composed at Auchtertyre on Miss Euphemia Murray of Lentrose
written in 1787
Song Composed at Auchtertyre on Miss Euphemia Murray of Lentrose - fact Summary
Composed at Auchtertyre for Phemie
This short song, written in 1787 while Burns was staying at Auchtertyre, is a direct tribute to Euphemia Murray of Lentrose. It uses simple pastoral imagery—banks, glens, flowers, and birds—to celebrate Phemie as beauty, cheerfulness, and gentle manner. The repeated chorus emphasizes her blitheness in different settings, while the speaker contrasts her favorably against other landscapes he has seen. The poem functions as a personal compliment and occasional piece rather than a formal philosophical statement, rooted in a specific acquaintance from Burns s life.
Read Complete AnalysesBy Oughtertyre grows the aik, On Yarrow banks the birken shaw; But Phemie was a bonier lass Than braes o' Yarrow ever saw. Blythe, blithe and merry was she, Blythe was she but and ben: Blythe by the banks of Ern, And blithe in Glenturit glen. Her looks were like a flower in May, Her smile was like a simmer morn, She tripped by the banks of Ern As light's a bird upon a thorn. Her bony face it was as meek As ony lamb upon a lee; The evening sun was ne'er sae sweet As was the blink o' Phemie's e'e. The Highland hills I've wander'd wide, And o'er the lawlands I hae been; But Phemie was the blithest lass That ever trode the dewy green. Blythe, blithe and merry was she, Blythe was she but and ben: Blythe by the banks of Ern, And blithe in Glenturit glen.
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