by Robert Burns
A native denizen of Nature? 20
How could’st thou, with a heart so good,
(A better ne’er was sluiced with blood!)
Nail a poor devil to a tree,
That ne’er did harm to thine or thee?
The staunchest Whig Glenriddell was, 25
Quite frantic in his country’s cause;
And oft was Reynard’s prison passing,
And with his brother-Whigs canvassing
The Rights of Men, the Powers of Women,
With all the dignity of Freemen. 30
Sir Reynard daily heard debates
Of Princes’, Kings’, and Nations’ fates,
With many rueful, bloody stories
Of Tyrants, Jacobites, and Tories:
From liberty how angels fell, 35
That now are galley-slaves in hell;
How Nimrod first the trade began
Of binding Slavery’s chains on Man;
How fell Semiramis — G — d d-mn her!
Did first, with sacrilegious hammer, 40
(All ills till then were trivial matters)
For Man dethron’d forge hen-peck fetters;
How Xerxes, that abandoned Tory,
Thought cutting throats was reaping glory,
Until the stubborn Whigs of Sparta 45
Taught him great Nature’s Magna Charta;
How mighty Rome her fiat hurl’d
Resistless o’er a bowing world,
And, kinder than they did desire,
Polish’d mankind with sword and fire; 50
With much, too tedious to relate,
Of ancient and of modern date,
But ending still, how Billy Pitt
(Unlucky boy!) with wicked wit,
Has gagg’d old Britain, drain’d her coffer, 55
As butchers bind and bleed a heifer,
Thus wily Reynard by degrees,
In kennel listening at his ease,
Suck’d in a mighty stock of knowledge,
As much as some folks at a College; 60
Knew Britain’s rights and constitution,
Her aggrandisement, diminution,
How fortune wrought us good from evil;
Let no man, then, despise the Devil,
As who should say, ‘I never can need him,’ 65
Since we to scoundrels owe our freedom.
• • • • • •
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
328.
Poem on Pastoral Poetry
HAIL, Poesie! thou Nymph reserv’d!
In chase o’ thee, what crowds hae swerv’d
Frae common sense, or sunk enerv’d
‘Mang heaps o’ clavers:
And och! o’er aft thy joes hae starv’d, 5
‘Mid a’ thy favours!
Say, Lassie, why, thy train amang,
While loud the trump’s heroic clang,
And sock or buskin skelp alang
To death or marriage; 10
Scarce ane has tried the shepherd-sang
But wi’ miscarriage?
In Homer’s craft Jock Milton thrives;
Eschylus’ pen Will Shakespeare drives;
Wee Pope, the knurlin’, till him rives 15
Horatian fame;
In thy sweet sang, Barbauld, survives
Even Sappho’s flame.
But thee, Theocritus, wha matches?
They’re no herd’s ballats, Maro’s catches; 20
Squire Pope but busks his skinklin’ patches
O’ heathen tatters:
I pass by hunders, nameless wretches,
That ape their betters.
In this braw age o’ wit and lear, 25
Will nane the Shepherd’s whistle mair
Blaw sweetly in its native air,
And rural grace;
And, wi’ the far-fam’d Grecian, share
A rival place? 30
Yes! there is ane; a Scottish callan!
There’s ane; come forrit, honest Allan!
Thou need na jouk behint the hallan,
A chiel sae clever;
The teeth o’ time may gnaw Tantallan, 35
But thou’s for ever.
Thou paints auld Nature to the nines,
In thy sweet Caledonian lines;
Nae gowden stream thro’ myrtle twines,
Where Philomel, 40
While nightly breezes sweep the vines,
Her griefs will tell!
In gowany glens thy burnie strays,
Where bonie lasses bleach their claes,
Or trots by hazelly shaws and braes, 45
Wi’ hawthorns gray,
Where blackbirds join the shepherd’s lays,
At close o’ day.
Thy rural loves are Nature’s sel’;
Nae bombast spates o’ nonsense swell; 50
Nae snap conceits, but that sweet spell
O’ witchin love,
That charm that can the strongest quell,
The sternest move.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
329.
Verses on the destruction of the Woods near Drumlanrig
AS on the banks o’ wandering Nith,
Ae smiling simmer morn I stray’d,
And traced its bonie howes and haughs,
Where linties sang and lammies play’d,
I sat me down upon a craig, 5
And drank my fill o’ fancy’s dream,
When from the eddying deep below,
Up rose the genius of the stream.
Dark, like the frowning rock, his brow,
And troubled, like his wintry wave, 10
And deep, as sughs the boding wind
Amang his caves, the sigh he gave —
“And come ye here, my son,” he cried,
“To wander in my birken shade?
To muse some favourite Scottish theme, 15
Or sing some favourite Scottish maid?
“There was a time, it’s nae lang syne,
Ye might hae seen me in my pride,
When a’ my banks sae bravely saw
Their woody pictures in my tide; 20
When hanging beech and spreading elm
Shaded my stream sae clear and cool:
And stately oaks their twisted arms
Threw broad and dark across the pool;
“When, glinting thro’ the trees, appear’d 25
The wee white cot aboon the mill,
And peacefu’ rose its ingle reek,
That, slowly curling, clamb the hill.
But now the cot is bare and cauld,
Its leafy bield for ever gane, 30
And scarce a stinted birk is left
To shiver in the blast its lane.”
“Alas!” quoth I, “what ruefu’ chance
Has twin’d ye o’ your stately trees?
Has laid your rocky bosom bare — 35
Has stripped the cleeding o’ your braes?
Was it the bitter eastern blast,
That scatters blight in early spring?
Or was’t the wil’fire scorch’d their boughs,
Or canker-worm wi’ secret sting?” 40
“Nae eastlin blast,” the sprite replied;
“It blaws na here sae fierce and fell,
And on my dry and halesome banks
Nae canker-worms get leave to dwell:
Man! cruel man!” the genius sighed — 45
As through the cliffs he sank him down —
“The worm that gnaw’d my bonie trees,
That reptile wears a ducal crown.”
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
330.
The Gallant Weaver (Song)
WHERE Cart rins rowin’ to the sea,
By mony a flower and spreading tree,
There lives a lad, the lad for me,
He is a gallant
Weaver.
O, I had wooers aught or nine, 5
They gied me rings and ribbons fine;
And I was fear’d my heart wad tine,
And I gied it to the Weaver.
My daddie sign’d my tocher-band,
To gie the lad that has the land, 10
But to my heart I’ll add my hand,
And give it to the Weaver.
While birds rejoice in leafy bowers,
While bees delight in opening flowers,
While corn grows green in summer showers, 15
I love my gallant Weaver.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
331.
Epigram at Brownhill Inn
AT Brownhill we always get dainty good cheer,
And plenty of bacon each day in the year;
We’ve a’ thing that’s nice, and mostly in season,
But why always Bacon — come, tell me a reason?
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
332.
You’re welcome, Willie Stewart (Song)
Chorus. — You’re welcome, Willie Stewart,
You’re welcome, Willie Stewart,
There’s ne’er a flower that blooms in May,
That’s half sae welcome’s thou art!
COME, bumpers high, express your joy, 5
The bowl we maun renew it,
The tappet hen, gae bring her ben,
To welcome Willie Stewart,
You’re welcome, Willie Stewart, &c.
May foes be strang, and friends be slack 10
Ilk action, may he rue it,
May woman on him turn her back
That wrangs thee, Willie Stewart,
You’re welcome, Willie Stewart, &c.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
333.
Lovely Polly Stewart (Song)
Chorus. — O lovely Polly Stewart,
O charming Polly Stewart,
There’s ne’er a flower that blooms in May,
That’s half so fair as thou art!
THE FLOWER it blaws, it fades, it fa’s, 5
And art can ne’er renew it;
But worth and truth, eternal youth
Will gie to Polly Stewart,
O lovely Polly Stewart, &c.
May he whase arms shall fauld thy charms 10
Possess a leal and true heart!
To him be given to ken the heaven
He grasps in Polly Stewart!
O lovely Polly Stewart, &c.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
334.
Damon and Sylvia (Fragment of a Song)
Tune— “The Tither Morn.”
YON wandering rill that marks the hill,
And glances o’er the brae, Sir,
Slides by a bower, where mony a flower
Sheds fragrance on the day, Sir;
There Damon lay, with Sylvia gay, 5
To love they thought no crime, Sir,
The wild birds sang, the echoes rang,
While Damon’s heart beat time, Sir.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
335.
Johnie lad, Cock up your Beaver (Fragment of a Song)
WHEN first my brave Johnie lad came to this town,
He had a blue bonnet that wanted the crown;
But now he has gotten a hat and a feather,
Hey, brave Johnie lad, cock up your beaver!
Cock up your beaver, and cock it fu’ sprush, 5
We’ll over the border, and gie them a brush;
There’s somebody there we’ll teach better behaviour,
Hey, brave Johnie lad, cock up your beaver!
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
336.
My Eppie Macnab (Song)
O SAW ye my dearie, my Eppie Macnab?
O saw ye my dearie, my Eppie Macnab?
She’s down in the yard, she’s kissin the laird,
She winna come hame to her ain Jock Rab.
O come thy ways to me, my Eppie Macnab; 5
O come thy ways to me, my Eppie Macnab;
Whate’er thou hast dune, be it late, be it sune,
Thou’s welcome again to thy ain Jock Rab.
What says she, my dearie, my Eppie Macnab?
What says she, my dearie, my Eppie Macnab? 10
She let’s thee to wit that she has thee forgot,
And for ever disowns thee, her ain Jock Rab.
O had I ne’er seen thee, my Eppie Macnab!
O had I ne’er seen thee, my Eppie Macnab!
As light as the air, and as fause as thou’s fair, 15
Thou’s broken the heart o’ thy ain Jock Rab.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
337.
Altho’ he has left me (Fragment of a Song)
ALTHO’ he has left me for greed o’ the siller,
I dinna envy him the gains he can win;
I rather wad bear a’ the lade o’ my sorrow,
Than ever hae acted sae faithless to him.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
338.
My Tocher’s the Jewel (Song)
O MEIKLE thinks my luve o’ my beauty,
And meikle thinks my luve o’ my kin;
But little thinks my luve I ken brawlie
My tocher’s the jewel has charms for him.
It’s a’ for the apple he’ll nourish the tree, 5
It’s a’ for the hinny he’ll cherish the bee,
My laddie’s sae meikle in luve wi’ the siller,
He canna hae luve to spare for me.
Your proffer o’ luve’s an airle-penny,
My tocher’s the bargain ye wad buy; 10
But an ye be crafty, I am cunnin’,
Sae ye wi anither your fortune may try.
Ye’re like to the timmer o’ yon rotten wood,
Ye’re like to the bark o’ yon rotten tree,
Ye’ll slip frae me like a knotless thread, 15
And ye’ll crack your credit wi’ mae nor me.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
339.
O for ane an’ twenty, Tam (Song)
Chorus. — An’ O for ane an’ twenty, Tam!
And hey, sweet ane an’ twenty, Tam!
I’ll learn my kin a rattlin’ sang,
An’ I saw ane an’ twenty, Tam.
THEY snool me sair, and haud me down, 5
An’ gar me look like bluntie, Tam;
But three short years will soon wheel roun’,
An’ then comes ane an’ twenty, Tam.
An’ O for, &c.
A glieb o’ lan’, a claut o’ gear, 10
Was left me by my auntie, Tam;
At kith or kin I need na spier,
An I saw ane an’ twenty, Tam.
An’ O for, &c.
They’ll hae me wed a wealthy coof, 15
Tho’ I mysel’ hae plenty, Tam;
But, hear’st thou laddie! there’s my loof,
I’m thine at ane an’ twenty, Tam!
An’ O for, &c.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
340.
Thou Fair Eliza (Song)
TURN again, thou fair Eliza!
Ae kind blink before we part;
Rue on thy despairing lover,
Can’st thou break his faithfu’ heart?
Turn again, thou fair Eliza! 5
If to love thy heart denies,
Oh, in pity hide the sentence
Under friendship’s kind disguise!
Thee, sweet maid, hae I offended?
My offence is loving thee; 10
Can’st thou wreck his peace for ever,
Wha for thine would gladly die?
While the life beats in my bosom,
Thou shalt mix in ilka throe:
Turn again, thou lovely maiden, 15
Ae sweet smile on me bestow.
Not the bee upon the blossom,
In the pride o’ sinny noon;
Not the little sporting fairy,
All beneath the simmer moon; 20
Not the Minstrel in the moment
Fancy lightens in his e’e,
Kens the pleasure, feels the rapture,
That thy presence gies to me.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
341.
My Bonie Bell (Song)
THE SMILING Spring comes in rejoicing,
And surly Winter grimly flies;
Now crystal clear are the falling waters,
And bonie blue are the sunny skies.
Fresh o’er the mountains breaks forth the morning, 5
The ev’ning gilds the ocean’s swell;
All creatures joy in the sun’s returning,
And I rejoice in my bonie Bell.