Poems and Songs of Robert Burns. Robert Burns

floods,

       Are free alike to all.

       In days when daisies deck the ground,

       And blackbirds whistle clear,

       With honest joy our hearts will bound,

       To see the coming year:

       On braes when we please, then,

       We'll sit an' sowth a tune;

       Syne rhyme till't we'll time till't,

       An' sing't when we hae done.

       It's no in titles nor in rank;

       It's no in wealth like Lon'on bank,

       To purchase peace and rest:

       It's no in makin' muckle, mair;

       It's no in books, it's no in lear,

       To make us truly blest:

       If happiness hae not her seat

       An' centre in the breast,

       We may be wise, or rich, or great,

       But never can be blest;

       Nae treasures, nor pleasures

       Could make us happy lang;

       The heart aye's the part aye

       That makes us right or wrang.

       Think ye, that sic as you and I,

       Wha drudge an' drive thro' wet and dry,

       Wi' never-ceasing toil;

       Think ye, are we less blest than they,

       Wha scarcely tent us in their way,

       As hardly worth their while?

       Alas! how aft in haughty mood,

       God's creatures they oppress!

       Or else, neglecting a' that's guid,

       They riot in excess!

       Baith careless and fearless

       Of either heaven or hell;

       Esteeming and deeming

       It's a' an idle tale!

       Then let us cheerfu' acquiesce,

       Nor make our scanty pleasures less,

       By pining at our state:

       And, even should misfortunes come,

       I, here wha sit, hae met wi' some—

       An's thankfu' for them yet.

       They gie the wit of age to youth;

       They let us ken oursel';

       They make us see the naked truth,

       The real guid and ill:

       Tho' losses an' crosses

       Be lessons right severe,

       There's wit there, ye'll get there,

       Ye'll find nae other where.

       But tent me, Davie, ace o' hearts!

       (To say aught less wad wrang the cartes,

       And flatt'ry I detest)

       This life has joys for you and I;

       An' joys that riches ne'er could buy,

       An' joys the very best.

       There's a' the pleasures o' the heart,

       The lover an' the frien';

       Ye hae your Meg, your dearest part,

       And I my darling Jean!

       It warms me, it charms me,

       To mention but her name:

       It heats me, it beets me,

       An' sets me a' on flame!

       O all ye Pow'rs who rule above!

       O Thou whose very self art love!

       Thou know'st my words sincere!

       The life-blood streaming thro' my heart,

       Or my more dear immortal part,

       Is not more fondly dear!

       When heart-corroding care and grief

       Deprive my soul of rest,

       Her dear idea brings relief,

       And solace to my breast.

       Thou Being, All-seeing,

       O hear my fervent pray'r;

       Still take her, and make her

       Thy most peculiar care!

       All hail! ye tender feelings dear!

       The smile of love, the friendly tear,

       The sympathetic glow!

       Long since, this world's thorny ways

       Had number'd out my weary days,

       Had it not been for you!

       Fate still has blest me with a friend,

       In ev'ry care and ill;

       And oft a more endearing band—

       A tie more tender still.

       It lightens, it brightens

       The tenebrific scene,

       To meet with, and greet with

       My Davie, or my Jean!

       O, how that name inspires my style!

       The words come skelpin, rank an' file,

       Amaist before I ken!

       The ready measure rins as fine,

       As Phoebus an' the famous Nine

       Were glowrin owre my pen.

       My spaviet Pegasus will limp,

       Till ance he's fairly het;

       And then he'll hilch, and stilt, an' jimp,

       And rin an unco fit:

       But least then the beast then

       Should rue this hasty ride,

       I'll light now, and dight now

       His sweaty, wizen'd hide.

Holy Willie's Prayer

       Table of Contents

      “And send the godly in a pet to pray.”—Pope.

      Argument.

      Holy Willie was a rather oldish bachelor elder, in the parish of Mauchline, and much and justly famed for that polemical chattering, which ends in tippling orthodoxy, and for that spiritualized bawdry which refines to liquorish devotion. In a sessional process with a gentleman in Mauchline—a Mr. Gavin Hamilton—Holy Willie and his priest, Father Auld, after full hearing in the presbytery of Ayr, came off but second best; owing partly to the oratorical powers of Mr. Robert Aiken, Mr. Hamilton's counsel; but chiefly to Mr. Hamilton's being one of the most irreproachable and truly respectable characters in the county. On losing the process, the muse overheard him [Holy Willie] at his devotions, as follows:—

      O Thou, who in the heavens does dwell,

       Who, as it pleases best Thysel',

       Sends ane to heaven an' ten to hell,

       A' for Thy glory,

       And no for ony gude or ill

       They've done afore Thee!

       I bless and praise Thy matchless might,

       When thousands Thou hast left in night,

       That I am here afore Thy sight,

       For gifts an' grace