Robert Burns (1759–1796). Poems and Songs.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14.

232 . Song—The Day Returns

THE DAY returns, my bosom burns,

The blissful day we twa did meet:

Tho’ winter wild in tempest toil’d,

Ne’er summer-sun was half sae sweet.

Than a’ the pride that loads the tide,

And crosses o’er the sultry line;

Than kingly robes, than crowns and globes,

Heav’n gave me more—it made thee mine!

While day and night can bring delight,

Or Nature aught of pleasure give;

While joys above my mind can move,

For thee, and thee alone, I live.

When that grim foe of life below

Comes in between to make us part,

The iron hand that breaks our band,

It breaks my bliss—it breaks my heart!