The poem
O BONIE was yon rosy brier, That blooms sae far frae haunt o’ man; And bonie she, and ah, how dear! It shaded frae the e’enin sun.
Yon rosebuds in the morning dew, How pure, amang the leaves sae green; But purer was the lover’s vow They witness’d in their shade yestreen.
All in its rude and prickly bower, That crimson rose, how sweet and fair; But love is far a sweeter flower, Amid life’s thorny path o’ care.
The pathless, wild and wimpling burn, Wi’ Chloris in my arms, be mine; And I the warld nor wish nor scorn, Its joys and griefs alike resign.