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Song—O let me in this ae night

by Robert Burns, 1795

O lassie, are ye sleepin yet,
Or are ye waukin, I wad wit?
For Love has bound me hand an' fit,
  And i would fain be in, jo.

Chorus.—o let me in this ae night,
This ae, ae, ae night;
O let me in this ae night,
I'll no come back again, jo!

O hear'st thou not the wind an' weet?
Nae star blinks thro' the driving sleet;
Tak pity on my weary feet,
  And shield me frae the rain, jo.
                O let me in, &c.

The bitter blast that round me blaws,
Unheeded howls, unheeded fa's;
The cauldness o' thy heart's the cause
  Of a' my care and pine, jo.
                O let me in, &c.


Her answer


o tell na me o' wind an' rain,
Upbraid na me wi' cauld disdain,
Gae back the gate ye cam again,
  I winna let ye in, jo.

Chorus.—i tell you now this ae night,
This ae, ae, ae night;
And ance for a' this ae night,
I winna let ye in, jo.

The snellest blast, at mirkest hours,
That round the pathless wand'rer pours
Is nocht to what poor she endures,
  That's trusted faithless man, jo.
              I tell you now, &c.

The sweetest flower that deck'd the mead,
Now trodden like the vilest weed—
Let simple maid the lesson read
  The weird may be her ain, jo.
              I tell you now, &c.

The bird that charm'd his summer day,
Is now the cruel Fowler's prey;
Let witless, trusting, Woman say
  How aft her fate's the same, jo!
              I tell you now, &c.

Published in Poems and Songs of Robert Burns
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