SELECTION FROM EPISTLE TO BLACKLOCK

SELECTION FROM EPISTLE TO DR.
BLACKLOCK

LORD help me thro' this warld o' care!
I'm weary sick o't late and air!

Not but I hae a richer share

Than mony ithers;

But why should ae man better fare,
And a' men brithers?

Come, Firm Resolve, take thou the van,
Thou stalk o' carl-hemp in man!
And let us mind, faint heart ne'er wan
A lady fair:

Wha does the utmost that he can,

Will whyles do mair.

But to conclude my silly rhyme
(I'm scant o' verse and scant o' time),
To make a happy fireside clime

To weans and wife,

That's the true pathos and sublime
Of human life.

LINES ON THE COMMEMORATION OF
RODNEY'S VICTORY

INSTEAD of a song, boys, I'll give you a toast; Here's to the memory of those we have lost! That we lost, did I say?-nay, by Heav'n, that \ we found;

For their fame it will last while the world goes

round.

The next in succession I'll give you 's THE KING! Whoe'er would betray him, on high may he

swing!

And here's the grand fabric, the free CONSTITU

TION,

As built on the base of our great Revolution!
And longer with Politics not to be cramm'd,
Be ANARCHY curs'd, and be TYRANNY damn'd!
And who would to LIBERTY e'er prove disloyal,
May his son be a hangman—and himself his first
trial!

THE SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT

THE SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT

THE Solemn League and Covenant
Now brings a smile, now brings a tear;
But sacred Freedom, too, was theirs:
If thou'rt á slave, indulge thy sneer.

TO CLARINDA, WHEN PRESENTING TWO WINE GLASSES

And fill them high with generous juice
As generous as your mind,

And pledge me in the generous toast
"The whole of human kind."

INSCRIPTION FOR AN ALTAR OF
INDEPENDENCE

AT KERROUGHTREE, THE SEAT OF MR. HERON

THOU of an independent mind,

With soul resolv'd, with soul resign'd
Prepar'd Power's proudest frown to brave,
Who wilt not be, nor have a slave;
Virtue alone who dost revere,
Thy own reproach alone dost fear-
Approach this shrine, and worship here.

LINES INSCRIBED IN A LADY'S POCKET ALMANAC

GRANT me, indulgent Heaven, that I may live,
To see the miscreants feel the pains they give;
Deal Freedom's sacred treasures free as air,
Till Slave and Despot be but things that were.

"I'm naebody's lord,

I'll be slave to naebody"

From "I hae a wife o' my ain."

Peace thy olive wand extend
And bid wild war his ravage end,

Man with brother man to meet,

And as a brother kindly greet.

From "On the seas and far away."

May Liberty meet wi' success!
May Prudence protect her frae evil!

May tyrants and tyranny tine i̇' the mist,
And wander their way to the devil!

From "Here's a health to them that's awa'."

THE TWA DOGS

THE TWA DOGS

A TALE

'Twas in that place o' Scotland's isle,
That bears the name o' auld 'King Coil,'
Upon a bonie day in June,

When wearin' thro' the afternoon,

Twa dogs, that were na thrang at hame,
Forgather'd ance upon a time.

The first I'll name, they ca'd him 'Cæsar,'
Was keepet for 'his Honor's' pleasure:
His hair, his size, his mouth, his lugs,
Shew'd he was nane o' Scotland's dogs;
But whalpet some place far abroad,
Whare sailors gang to fish for cod.

His locked, letter'd, braw brass collar
Shew'd him the gentleman an' scholar;
But tho' he was o' high degree,
The fient a pride, nae pride had he;
But wad hae spent an hour caressin',
Ev'n wi' a tinkler-gipsey's messan:

NOTE.-Burns' beautiful dog was killed in wanton cruelty by some one the night before the father of the poet died. He wrote this poem partly in memory of his companion; partly to expose the squandering of wealth by the aristocracy; partly to reveal to them the hardships of the poor; and that at the same time they were happy; partly to intimate to the aristocrats that they would be much happier with simpler pleasures; and partly to make the poor understand their blessings and appreciate their joys, by showing that in the highest tests of happiness they were better off than the rich and idle.