[
  {
    "title": "57. Holy Willie’s Prayer",
    "author": "Robert Burns",
    "lines": [
      "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",
      "A burning and a shining light",
      "                To a’ this place.",
      "",
      "",
      "What was I, or my generation,",
      "That I should get sic exaltation,",
      "I wha deserve most just damnation",
      "                For broken laws,",
      "Five thousand years ere my creation,",
      "                Thro’ Adam’s cause?",
      "",
      "",
      "When frae my mither’s womb I fell,",
      "Thou might hae plunged me in hell,",
      "To gnash my gums, to weep and wail,",
      "                In burnin lakes,",
      "Where damned devils roar and yell,",
      "                Chain’d to their stakes.",
      "",
      "",
      "Yet I am here a chosen sample,",
      "To show thy grace is great and ample;",
      "I’m here a pillar o’ Thy temple,",
      "                Strong as a rock,",
      "A guide, a buckler, and example,",
      "                To a’ Thy flock.",
      "",
      "",
      "O L—d, Thou kens what zeal I bear,",
      "When drinkers drink, an’ swearers swear,",
      "An’ singin there, an’ dancin here,",
      "                Wi’ great and sma’;",
      "For I am keepit by Thy fear",
      "                Free frae them a’.",
      "",
      "",
      "But yet, O L—d! confess I must,",
      "At times I’m fash’d wi’ fleshly lust:",
      "An’ sometimes, too, in wardly trust,",
      "                Vile self gets in:",
      "But Thou remembers we are dust,",
      "                Defil’d wi’ sin.",
      "",
      "",
      "O L—d! yestreen, Thou kens, wi’ Meg—",
      "Thy pardon I sincerely beg,",
      "O! may’t ne’er be a livin plague",
      "                To my dishonour,",
      "An’ I’ll ne’er lift a lawless leg",
      "                Again upon her.",
      "",
      "",
      "Besides, I farther maun allow,",
      "Wi’ Leezie’s lass, three times I trow—",
      "But L—d, that Friday I was fou,",
      "                When I cam near her;",
      "Or else, Thou kens, Thy servant true",
      "                Wad never steer her.",
      "",
      "",
      "Maybe Thou lets this fleshly thorn",
      "Buffet Thy servant e’en and morn,",
      "Lest he owre proud and high shou’d turn,",
      "                That he’s sae gifted:",
      "If sae, Thy han’ maun e’en be borne,",
      "                Until Thou lift it.",
      "",
      "",
      "L—d, bless Thy chosen in this place,",
      "For here Thou hast a chosen race:",
      "But G—d confound their stubborn face,",
      "                An’ blast their name,",
      "Wha bring Thy elders to disgrace",
      "                An’ public shame.",
      "",
      "",
      "L—d, mind Gaw’n Hamilton’s deserts;",
      "He drinks, an’ swears, an’ plays at cartes,",
      "Yet has sae mony takin arts,",
      "                Wi’ great and sma’,",
      "Frae G—d’s ain priest the people’s hearts",
      "                He steals awa.",
      "",
      "",
      "An’ when we chasten’d him therefor,",
      "Thou kens how he bred sic a splore,",
      "An’ set the warld in a roar",
      "                O’ laughing at us;—",
      "Curse Thou his basket and his store,",
      "                Kail an’ potatoes.",
      "",
      "",
      "L—d, hear my earnest cry and pray’r,",
      "Against that Presbyt’ry o’ Ayr;",
      "Thy strong right hand, L—d, make it bare",
      "                Upo’ their heads;",
      "L—d visit them, an’ dinna spare,",
      "                For their misdeeds.",
      "",
      "",
      "O L—d, my G—d! that glib-tongu’d Aiken,",
      "My vera heart and flesh are quakin,",
      "To think how we stood sweatin’, shakin,",
      "                An’ p—’d wi’ dread,",
      "While he, wi’ hingin lip an’ snakin,",
      "                Held up his head.",
      "",
      "",
      "L—d, in Thy day o’ vengeance try him,",
      "L—d, visit them wha did employ him,",
      "And pass not in Thy mercy by ’em,",
      "                Nor hear their pray’r,",
      "But for Thy people’s sake, destroy ’em,",
      "                An’ dinna spare.",
      "",
      "",
      "But, L—d, remember me an’ mine",
      "Wi’ mercies temp’ral an’ divine,",
      "That I for grace an’ gear may shine,",
      "                Excell’d by nane,",
      "And a’ the glory shall be thine,",
      "                Amen, Amen!"
    ],
    "linecount": "102"
  }
]