Free Delphi Complete Works of Robert Burns (Illustrated) (Delphi Poets Series) by Robert Burns Page B

sair.”
     
    Her dowff excuses pat me mad;“Conscience,” says I, “ye thowless jade!    20 I’ll write, an’ that a hearty blaud,
              This vera night;So dinna ye affront your trade,
              But rhyme it right.
     
    “Shall bauld Lapraik, the king o’ hearts,    25 Tho’ mankind were a pack o’ cartes,Roose you sae weel for your deserts,
              In terms sae friendly;Yet ye’ll neglect to shaw your parts
              An’ thank him kindly?”    30
     
    Sae I gat paper in a blink,An’ down gaed stumpie in the ink:Quoth I, “Before I sleep a wink,
              I vow I’ll close it;An’ if ye winna mak it clink,    35
              By Jove, I’ll prose it!”
     
    Sae I’ve begun to scrawl, but whetherIn rhyme, or prose, or baith thegither;Or some hotch-potch that’s rightly neither,
              Let time mak proof;    40 But I shall scribble down some blether
              Just clean aff-loof.
     
    My worthy friend, ne’er grudge an’ carp,Tho’ fortune use you hard an’ sharp;Come, kittle up your moorland harp    45
              Wi’ gleesome touch!Ne’er mind how Fortune waft and warp;
              She’s but a bitch.
     
    She ‘s gien me mony a jirt an’ fleg,Sin’ I could striddle owre a rig;    50 But, by the L — d, tho’ I should beg
              Wi’ lyart pow,I’ll laugh an’ sing, an’ shake my leg,
              As lang’s I dow!
     
    Now comes the sax-an’-twentieth simmer    55 I’ve seen the bud upon the timmer,Still persecuted by the limmer
              Frae year to year;But yet, despite the kittle kimmer,
              I, Rob, am here.    60
     
    Do ye envy the city gent,Behint a kist to lie an’ sklent;Or pursue-proud, big wi’ cent. per cent.
              An’ muckle wame,In some bit brugh to represent    65
              A bailie’s name?
     
    Or is’t the paughty, feudal thane,Wi’ ruffl’d sark an’ glancing cane,Wha thinks himsel nae sheep-shank bane,
              But lordly stalks;    70 While caps and bonnets aff are taen,
              As by he walks?
     
    “O Thou wha gies us each guid gift!Gie me o’ wit an’ sense a lift,Then turn me, if thou please, adrift,    75
              Thro’ Scotland wide;Wi’ cits nor lairds I wadna shift,
              In a’ their pride!”
     
    Were this the charter of our state,“On pain o’ hell be rich an’ great,”     80 Damnation then would be our fate,
              Beyond remead;But, thanks to heaven, that’s no the gate
              We learn our creed.
     
    For thus the royal mandate ran,    85 When first the human race began;“The social, friendly, honest man,
               Whate’er he be —‘Tis he fulfils great Nature’s plan,
              And none but he.”    90
     
    O mandate glorious and divine!The ragged followers o’ the Nine,Poor, thoughtless devils! yet may shine
              In glorious light,While sordid sons o’ Mammon’s line    95
              Are dark as night!
     
    Tho’ here they scrape, an’ squeeze, an’ growl,Their worthless nievefu’ of a soulMay in some future carcase howl,
              The forest’s fright;    100 Or in some day-detesting owl
              May shun the light.
     
    Then may Lapraik and Burns arise,To reach their native, kindred skies,And sing their pleasures, hopes an’ joys,    105
              In some mild sphere;Still closer knit in friendship’s ties,
              Each passing year!
     
     
     
    Chronological List of Poems
     
    Alphabetical List of Poems
     

62.
     
    Epistle to