O Were My Love Yon Lilack Fair
written in 1793
O Were My Love Yon Lilack Fair - meaning Summary
Longing Framed in Nature
The speaker imagines his beloved as a flower—a lilac or a red rose—and imagines himself as a bird or a drop of dew whose purpose is to shelter, nourish, and inhabit her. The poem contrasts tender intimacy and bodily longing with the fragility of beauty and the passage of seasons: protection and mourning when flowers are torn by autumn and winter, and renewal in May. Its mood is yearning and devotional, mixing pastoral imagery with physical desire to convey love’s dependence on natural cycles and its fleeting, precious quality.
Read Complete AnalysesO were my Love yon Lilack fair, Wi' purple blossoms to the Spring; And I, a bird to shelter there, When wearied on my little wing. How I wad mourn, when it was torn By Autumn wild, and Winter rude! But I was sing on wanton wing, When youthfu' May its bloom renew'd. [O gin my love were yon red rose, That grows upon the castle wa'! And I mysel' a drap o' dew, Into her bonnie breast to fa'! Oh, there beyond expression blesst I'd feast on beauty a' the night; Seal'd on her silk-saft faulds to rest, Till fley'd awa by Phebus' light!]
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