O, Were I on Parnassus Hill
written in 1788
O, Were I on Parnassus Hill - fact Summary
Written for Nancy Mclehose
This short 1788 lyric is a direct love address linked to Robert Burns’s relationship with Nancy McLehose. Burns opens by invoking classical poetic places—Parnassus and Helicon—but quickly locates his inspiration in local landscapes (the Nith and Corsincon) and in the beloved herself. The poem repeatedly asserts unshakeable attachment: memory and desire accompany the speaker by day and night, in movement and at home, and will endure even if he must wander "beyond the sea, beyond the sun." It reads as plain, ardent devotion rather than mythic exaltation.
Read Complete AnalysesO were I on Parnassus hill; Or had o' Helicon my fill; That I might catch poetic skill, To sing how dear I love thee. But Nith maun be my Muses well, My Muse maun be my bonie sell; On Corsincon I'll glowr and spell, And write how dear I love thee. Then come, sweet Muse, inspire my lay! For a' the lee-lang simmer's day, I couldna sing, I couldna say, How much, how dear, I love thee. I see thee dancing o'er the green, Thy waist sae jimp, thy limbs sae clean, Thy tempting lips, thy roguish een By Heaven and Earth I love thee. By night, by day, a-field, at hame, The thoughts o' thee my breast inflame; And ay I muse and sing thy name, I only live to love thee. Tho' I were doom'd to wander on, Beyond the sea, beyond the sun, Till my last weary sand was run; Till then - and then I love thee.
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