[ { "title": "56. Epistle to Davie, A Brother Poet", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "WHILE winds frae aff Ben-Lomond blaw,", "An’ bar the doors wi’ driving snaw,", " An’ hing us owre the ingle,", "I set me down to pass the time,", "An’ spin a verse or twa o’ rhyme,", " In hamely, westlin jingle.", "While frosty winds blaw in the drift,", " Ben to the chimla lug,", "I grudge a wee the great-folk’s gift,", " That live sae bien an’ snug:", " I tent less, and want less", " Their roomy fire-side;", " But hanker, and canker,", " To see their cursed pride.", "", "", "It’s hardly in a body’s pow’r", "To keep, at times, frae being sour,", " To see how things are shar’d;", "How best o’ chiels are whiles in want,", "While coofs on countless thousands rant,", " And ken na how to wair’t;", "But, Davie, lad, ne’er fash your head,", " Tho’ we hae little gear;", "We’re fit to win our daily bread,", " As lang’s we’re hale and fier:", " “Mair spier na, nor fear na,” 1", " Auld age ne’er mind a feg;", " The last o’t, the warst o’t", " Is only but to beg.", "", "", "To lie in kilns and barns at e’en,", "When banes are craz’d, and bluid is thin,", " Is doubtless, great distress!", "Yet then content could make us blest;", "Ev’n then, sometimes, we’d snatch a taste", " Of truest happiness.", "The honest heart that’s free frae a’", " Intended fraud or guile,", "However Fortune kick the ba’,", " Has aye some cause to smile;", " An’ mind still, you’ll find still,", " A comfort this nae sma’;", " Nae mair then we’ll care then,", " Nae farther can we fa’.", "", "", "What tho’, like commoners of air,", "We wander out, we know not where,", " But either house or hal’,", "Yet nature’s charms, the hills and woods,", "The sweeping vales, and foaming 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.", "", "", " Note 1. Ramsay.—R. B. [back]" ], "linecount": "155" } ]