FLOW GENTLY SWEET AFTON
(learned in childhood; the words are by Robert Burns about a young friend of his;-the music is by Jonathan Edwards Spilman who copyrighted this tune in 1838;
-he was born in 1812 and died in 1896 and was first a lawyer then a minister
-this tune is sometimes attributed to Alexander Hume but his melody is different)
Flow gently, sweet Afton, among thy green braes,
How lofty, sweet Afton, thy neighboring hills,
Thy crystal stream, Afton, how lovely it glides,
(from miriam berg's folksong collection)
Flow gently, I'll sing thee a song in thy praise,
My Mary's asleep by thy murmuring stream,
Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream.
Thou stockdove, whose echo resounds from the hill,
Ye wild whistling blackbirds in yon thorny dell,
Thou green-crested lapwing, thy screaming forbear,
I charge you, disturb not my slumbering fair.
Far marked with the courses of clear-winding rills!
There daily I wander, as morn rises high,
My flocks and my Mary's sweet cot in my eye.
How pleasant thy banks and green valleys below,
Where wild in the woodland the primroses grow!
There oft, as mild evening creeps over the lea
The sweet-scented birk shades my Mary and me.
And winds by the cot where my Mary resides,
How wanton thy waters her snowy feet lave,
As gathering sweet flow-rets, she stems thy clear wave.
Flow gently, sweet Afton, among thy green braes,
Flow gently, sweet river, the theme of my lays;
My Mary's asleep by thy murmuring stream
Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream.