VERSES Written under the Portrait of Fergusson, the Poet, in a copy of that author's works presented to a young Lady in Edinburgh, March 19, 1787. CURSE on ungrateful man, that can be pleas'd, And yet can starve the author of the pleasure, O thou my elder brother in misfortune, By far my elder brother in the muses, With tears I pity thy unhappy fate! Why is the bard unpitied by the world, Yet has so keen a relish of its pleasures? SONG.* Tune I am a Man unmarried.' O ONCE I lov'd a bonnie lass, Ay, and I love her still, And whilst that honour warms my breast Fal lal de ral, &c. This composition was the first of my performances, and done at an early period of life, when my heart glowed with honest warm simplicity; unacquainted, and uncorrupted with the ways of a wicked world. The performance, is, indeed, very peurile and silly; but I am always pleased with it, as it recals to my mind those happy days when my heart was yet honest, and my tongue was sincere. The subject of it was a young girl who As bonnie lasses I hae seen, But for a modest gracefu' mien A bonnie lass I will confess, But without some better qualities She's no a lass for me. But Nelly's looks are blithe and sweet, And what is best of a', Her reputation is complete, She dresses ay sae clean and neat, And then there's something in her gait A gaudy dress and gentle air 'Tis this in Nelly pleases me, 'Tis this enchants my soul; For absolutely in my breast She reigns without control. Fal lal de ral, &c. really deserved all the praises I have bestowed on her. I not only had this opinion of her then-but I actually think so still, now that the spell is long since broken, and the enchantment at Burns' Reliques, p. 318. an end. |