And leaves fall from her one by one.

Such fate ere long will thee betide,
When thou hast handled been awhile,
Like fair flowers to be thrown aside;
And thou shalt sigh while I shall smile,
To see thy love to every one
Hath brought thee to be loved by none.

BURNS'S ADAPTATION

I do confess thou art sae fair,
I wad been ower the lugs in love
Had I na found the slightest prayer
That lips could speak, thy heart could move.
I do confess thee sweet--but find
Thou art sae thriftless o' thy sweets,
Thy favors are the silly wind,
That kisses ilka thing it meets.
See yonder rosebud rich in dew,
Among its native briers sae coy,
How sune it tines its scent and hue
When pu'd and worn a common toy.
Sic fate, ere lang, shall thee betide,
Tho' thou may gaily bloom awhile;
Yet sune thou shalt be thrown aside
Like any common weed and vile.

WILLIAM EDMONSTOUNE AYTOUN

(1813-1865)

Aytoun the second, balladist, humorist, and Tory, in proportions of
about equal importance,--one of the group of wits and devotees of the
_status quo_ who made Blackwood's Magazine so famous in its early
days,--was born in Edinburgh, June 21st, 1813. He was the son of Roger
Aytoun, "writer to the Signet"; and a descendant of Sir Robert Aytoun
(1570-1638), the poet and friend of Ben Jonson, who followed James VI.
from Scotland and who is buried in Westminster Abbey. Both Aytoun's
parents were literary. His mother, who knew Sir Walter Scott, and who
gave Lockhart many details for his biography, helped the lad in his
poems. She seemed to him to know all the ballads ever sung. His earliest
verses were praised by Professor John Wilson ("Christopher North"), the
first editor of Blackwood's, whose daughter he married in 1849. At the
age of nineteen he published his 'Poland, Homer, and Other Poems'
(Edinburgh, 1832). After leaving the University of Edinburgh, he studied
law in London, visited Germany, and returning to Scotland, was called to
the bar in 1840. He disliked the profession, and used to say that though
he followed the law he never could overtake it.

While in Germany he translated the first part of 'Faust' in blank verse,
which was never published. Many of his translations from Uhland and
Homer appeared in Blackwood's from 1836 to 1840, and many of his early
writings were signed "August