A poem for Burns Night
Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns, was passionate about the people and the landscapes of his homeland.
Even if you’re not piping in the haggis tonight, you can appreciate the heartache behind the words of this poem, which could apply to almost any period of Scottish history.
My Heart’s in the Highlands
My heart’s in the Highlands, my heart is not here;
My heart’s in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;
Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart’s in the Highlands, wherever I go.
Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North,
The birth-place of Valour, the country of Worth;
Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,
The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.
Farewell to the mountains, high-cover’d with snow,
Farewell to the straths and green vallies below;
Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods,
Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods.
My heart’s in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
My heart’s in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;
Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart’s in the Highlands, wherever I go.
Robert Burns, 1789
(photo of Rannoch Moor © Colin Woolf)
