Famous Dearie Poems by Famous Poets

These are examples of famous Dearie poems written by some of the greatest and most-well-known modern and classical poets. PoetrySoup is a great educational poetry resource of famous dearie poems. These examples illustrate what a famous dearie poem looks like and its form, scheme, or style (where appropriate).

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382. Song—I'll meet thee on the Lea Rig

by Robert Burns
 WHEN o’er the hill the eastern star
 Tells bughtin time is near, my jo,
And owsen frae the furrow’d field
 Return sae dowf and weary O;
Down by the burn, where birken buds
 Wi’ dew are hangin clear, my jo,
I’ll meet thee on the lea-rig,
 My ain kind Dearie O.


At midnight hour, in mirkest glen,
 I’d rove, and ne’er be eerie,...Read more of this...

The Lure Of Little Voices

by Robert William Service
 There's a cry from out the loneliness -- oh, listen, Honey, listen!
 Do you hear it, do you fear it, you're a-holding of me so?
You're a-sobbing in your sleep, dear, and your lashes, how they glisten --
 Do you hear the Little Voices all a-begging me to go?

All a-begging me to leave you. Day and night they're pleading, praying,
...Read more of this...

To Robin Goodfellow

by Eugene Field
 I see you, Maister Bawsy-brown,
Through yonder lattice creepin';
You come for cream and to gar me dream,
But you dinna find me sleepin'.
The moonbeam, that upon the floor
Wi' crickets ben a-jinkin',
Now steals away fra' her bonnie play--
Wi' a rosier blie, I'm thinkin'.

I saw you, Maister Bawsy-brown,
When the blue bells went a-ringin'
For the merrie fays o' the banks an' braes,
And I kenned...Read more of this...

32. Song—Green Grow the Rashes

by Robert Burns
 Chor.—Green grow the rashes, O;
 Green grow the rashes, O;
The sweetest hours that e’er I spend,
 Are spent amang the lasses, O.


THERE’S nought but care on ev’ry han’,
 In ev’ry hour that passes, O:
What signifies the life o’ man,
 An’ ’twere na for the lasses, O.
 Green grow, &c.


The war’ly race may riches chase,
 An’ riches still may fly...Read more of this...

214. Song—How Long and Dreary is the Night

by Robert Burns
 HOW long and dreary is the night,
 When I am frae my dearie!
I sleepless lie frae e’en to morn,
 Tho’ I were ne’er so weary:
I sleepless lie frae e’en to morn,
 Tho’ I were ne’er sae weary!


When I think on the happy days
 I spent wi’ you my dearie:
And now what lands between us lie,
 How can I be...Read more of this...

The Mylora Elopement

by Andrew Barton Paterson
 By the winding Wollondilly where the weeping willows weep, 
And the shepherd, with his billy, half awake and half asleep, 
Folds his fleecy flocks that linger homewards in the setting sun 
Lived my hero, Jim the Ringer, "cocky" on Mylora Run. 
Jimmy loved the super's daughter, Miss Amelia Jane McGrath. 
Long and earnestly he sought her, but he feared...Read more of this...

The Walkers

by Robert William Service
 (He speaks.)

Walking, walking, oh, the joy of walking!
Swinging down the tawny lanes with head held high;
Striding up the green hills, through the heather stalking,
Swishing through the woodlands where the brown leaves lie;
Marveling at all things -- windmills gaily turning,
Apples for the cider-press, ruby-hued and gold;
Tails of rabbits twinkling, scarlet berries burning,
Wedge of geese high-flying in the sky's clear cold,
Light...Read more of this...

392. Song—Poortith cauld and restless love

by Robert Burns
 O POORTITH cauld, and restless love,
 Ye wrack my peace between ye;
Yet poortith a’ I could forgive,
 An ’twere na for my Jeanie.


Chorus.—O why should Fate sic pleasure have,
 Life’s dearest bands untwining?
Or why sae sweet a flower as love
 Depend on Fortune’s shining?


The warld’s wealth, when I think on,
 It’s pride and a’ the lave o’t;
O fie on...Read more of this...

443. Song—Wilt thou be my Dearie

by Robert Burns
 WILT thou be my Dearie?
When Sorrow wring thy gentle heart,
 O wilt thou let me cheer thee!
By the treasure of my soul,
 That’s the love I bear thee:
I swear and vow that only thou
 Shall ever be my Dearie!
Only thou, I swear and vow,
 Shall ever be my Dearie!


 Lassie, say thou lo’es me;
Or, if thou wilt na be...Read more of this...

284. Song—Ca' the Yowes to the Knowes (older set)

by Robert Burns
 Chorus.—Ca’ the yowes to the knowes,
Ca’ them where the heather grows,
Ca’ them where the burnie rowes,
 My bonie dearie


AS I gaed down the water-side,
There I met my shepherd lad:
He row’d me sweetly in his plaid,
 And he ca’d me his dearie.
 Ca’ the yowes, &c.


Will ye gang down the water-side,
And see the waves sae sweetly glide
Beneath the hazels spreading...Read more of this...

482. Song—Pretty Peg my dearie

by Robert Burns
 AS I gaed up by yon gate-end,
 When day was waxin’ weary,
Wha did I meet come down the street,
 But pretty Peg, my dearie!


Her air sae sweet, an’ shape complete,
 Wi’ nae proportion wanting,
The Queen of Love did never move
 Wi’ motion mair enchanting.


Wi’ linkèd hands we took the sands,
 Adown yon winding river;
Oh, that sweet hour and shady...Read more of this...

368. Song—Scroggam my dearie

by Robert Burns
 THERE was a wife wonn’d in Cockpen,
 Scroggam;
She brew’d gude ale for gentlemen;
 Sing auld Cowl lay ye down by me,
 Scroggam, my dearie, ruffum.


The gudewife’s dochter fell in a fever,
 Scroggam;
The priest o’ the parish he fell in anither;
 Sing auld Cowl lay ye down by me,
 Scroggam, my dearie, ruffum.


They laid the twa i’ the bed thegither,
...Read more of this...

On The Road

by Paul Laurence Dunbar
I 's boun' to see my gal to-night—
Oh, lone de way, my dearie!
De moon ain't out, de stars ain't bright—
Oh, lone de way, my dearie!
Dis hoss o' mine is pow'ful slow,
But when I does git to yo' do'
Yo' kiss 'll pay me back, an' mo',
Dough lone de way, my dearie.
De night is skeery-lak an' still—
Oh, lone de way, my dearie!
'Cept...Read more of this...

397. Song—Wandering Willie (Revised Version)

by Robert Burns
 HERE awa, there awa, wandering Willie,
 Here awa, there awa, haud awa hame;
Come to my bosom, my ain only dearie,
 Tell me thou bring’st me my Willie the same.
Winter winds blew loud and cauld at our parting,
 Fears for my Willie brought tears in my e’e,
Welcome nowhSimmer, and welcome, my Willie,
 The Simmer to Nature, my Willie to me!


Rest,...Read more of this...

The Front Tooth

by Robert William Service
 A-sittin' in the Bull and Pump
With double gins to keep us cheery
Says she to me, says Polly Crump"
"What makes ye look so sweet. me dearie?
As if ye'd gotten back yer youth . . . ."
Says I: "It's just me new front tooth."

Says Polly Crump: "A gummy grin
Don't help to make one's business active;
We gels wot gains our bread by...Read more of this...

Green Grow The Rashes

by Robert Burns
 Green grow the rashes, O!
Green grow the rashes, O!
The sweetest hours that e'er I spend,
Are spent amang the lasses, O!

There's nought but care on every han'
In every hour that passes, O;
What signifies the life o' man,
An 'twere na for the lasses, O?

The warl'ly race may riches chase,
An' riches still may fly them, O;
An' though at last they catch them...Read more of this...

Cornish Lullaby

by Eugene Field
 Out on the mountain over the town,
All night long, all night long,
The trolls go up and the trolls go down,
Bearing their packs and crooning a song;
And this is the song the hill-folk croon,
As they trudge in the light of the misty moon,--
This is ever their dolorous tune:
"Gold, gold! ever more gold,--
Bright red gold for dearie!"

Deep in the hill the...Read more of this...

469. Song—Ca' the Yowes to the Knowes

by Robert Burns
 Chorus.—Ca’the yowes to the knowes,
Ca’ them where the heather grows,
Ca’ them where the burnie rowes,
 My bonie Dearie.


HARK the mavis’ e’ening sang,
Sounding Clouden’s woods amang;
Then a-faulding let us gang,
 My bonie Dearie.
 Ca’ the yowes, &c.


We’ll gae down by Clouden side,
Thro’ the hazels, spreading wide,
O’er the waves that sweetly glide,
 To the moon sae clearly.
 Ca’ the yowes, &c.


Yonder...Read more of this...

Ailsie My Bairn

by Eugene Field
 Lie in my arms, Ailsie, my bairn,--
Lie in my arms and dinna greit;
Long time been past syn I kenned you last,
But my harte been allwais the same, my swete.

Ailsie, I colde not say you ill,
For out of the mist of your bitter tears,
And the prayers that rise from your bonnie eyes
Cometh a promise of oder yeres.

I mind the time...Read more of this...

The Children of Lir

by Katharine Tynan
 Out upon the sand-dunes thrive the coarse long grasses;
Herons standing knee-deep in the brackish pool;
Overhead the sunset fire and flame amasses
And the moon to eastward rises pale and cool.
Rose and green around her, silver-gray and pearly, 
Chequered with the black rooks flying home to bed; 
For, to wake at daybreak, birds must couch them early: 
And the day's a...Read more of this...

491. Song—Lassie wi' the Lint-white Locks

by Robert Burns
 Chorus.—Lassie wi’the lint-white locks,
 Bonie lassie, artless lassie,
Wilt thou wi’ me tent the flocks,
 Wilt thou be my Dearie, O?


NOW Nature cleeds the flowery lea,
And a’ is young and sweet like thee,
O wilt thou share its joys wi’ me,
 And say thou’lt be my Dearie, O.
 Lassie wi’ the, &c.


The primrose bank, the wimpling burn,
The cuckoo on the milk-white...Read more of this...

321. Song—Craigieburn Wood

by Robert Burns
 SWEET closes the ev’ning on Craigieburn Wood,
 And blythely awaukens the morrow;
But the pride o’ the spring in the Craigieburn Wood
 Can yield to me nothing but sorrow.


Chorus.—Beyond thee, dearie, beyond thee, dearie,
 And O to be lying beyond thee!
O sweetly, soundly, weel may he sleep
 That’s laid in the bed beyond thee!


I see the spreading leaves and flowers,
...Read more of this...

Orkney Lullaby

by Eugene Field
 A moonbeam floateth from the skies,
Whispering, "Heigho, my dearie!
I would spin a web before your eyes,--
A beautiful web of silver light,
Wherein is many a wondrous sight
Of a radiant garden leagues away,
Where the softly tinkling lilies sway,
And the snow-white lambkins are at play,--
Heigho, my dearie!"

A brownie stealeth from the vine
Singing, "Heigho, my dearie!
And will you hear this song of mine,--
A...Read more of this...

Day is Düne

by William Soutar
Lully, lully, my ain wee dearie:
Lully, lully, my ain wee doo:
Sae far awa and peerieweerie
Is the hurlie o' the world noo.

And a' the noddin pows are weary;
And a' the fitterin feet come in:
Lully, lully, my ain wee dearie,
The darg is owre and the day is düne.

...Read more of this...

Little croodlin doo

by Eugene Field
 Ho, pretty bee, did you see my croodlin doo?
Ho, little lamb, is she jinkin' on the lea?
Ho, bonnie fairy, bring my dearie back to me--
Got a lump o' sugar an' a posie for you,
Only bring back my wee, wee croodlin doo!

Why, here you are, my little croodlin doo!
Looked in er cradle, but didn't find you there,
Looked f'r my wee,...Read more of this...

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