Sunday Poetry - Unrequited Love

I haven't been able to find out very much about today's poet, Marion Angus, apart from her dates, 1866-1946. Even the link on the website where I found this photo is broken. She was born in Aberdeen where her father was a minister & spent most of her life there. Her poetry was often based on the old ballad forms & written in Scots like this lovely poem, Mary's Song. Her work was out of print for many years after her death but a new edition of her selected poems was published in 2006. This poem is melancholy & heart breaking as unrequited love is. I think it's beautiful.

I wad hae gi'en him my lips tae kiss,
Had I been his, had I been his;
Barley breid and elder wine,
Had I been his as he is mine.


The wanderin' bee it seeks the rose;
Tae the lochan's bosom the burnie goes;
The grey bird cries at evenin's fa',
'My luve, my fair one, come awa'.'


My beloved sall ha'e this he'rt tae break,
Reid, reid wine and the barley cake,
A he'rt tae break, an' a mou' tae kiss,
Tho' he be nae mine, as I am his.