And there began a lang digression Oh wad some power the giftie gie us Then gently scan your brother man, Though they may gang a kennin' wrang, To step aside is human.1 The Twa Dogs. To a Louse. Address to the Unco Guid. What's done we partly may compute, O life! thou art a galling load, To wretches such as I! Perhaps it may turn out a sang, I waive the quantum o' the sin, The fear o' hell's a hangman's whip 3 Ibid. To a Mountain Daisy. Despondency. Epistle to a Young Friend. Ibid. To haud the wretch in order; Ibid. Flow gently, sweet Afton, among thy green braes; Flow gently, sweet Afton. Oh whistle, and I'll come to ye, my lad.1 If naebody care for me, Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to mind? We twa hae run about the braes, Dweller in yon dungeon dark, Whistle, and I'll come to ye. A chiel's amang ye takin' notes, I hae a Wife o' my Ain. Auld Lang Syne. Ibid. Ode on Mrs. Oswald. Epistle to Dr. Blacklock. On Captain Grose's Peregrinations through Scotland. John Anderson my jo, John, 1 See Beaumont and Fletcher, page 198. John Anderson. 2 See Bickerstaff, page 427. My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here; She is a winsome wee thing, My Wife's a Winsome Wee Thing. The golden hours on angel wings Flew o'er me and my dearie; Highland. Mary. Ibid. In durance vile here must I wake and weep, Epistle from Esopus to Maria. 1 These lines from an old song, entitled "The Strong Walls of Derry," Burns made a basis for his own beautiful ditty. 2 See Heywood, page 9. 8 See Fletcher, page 183. 4 Durance vile. W. KENRICK (1766): Falstaff's Wedding, act i. sc. 2. BURKE: The Present Discontents. Oh, my luve 's like a red, red rose, Contented wi' little, and cantie wi' mair. Where sits our sulky, sullen dame, A Red, Red Rose. Contented wi' Little. Tam o' Shanter. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. The landlord's laugh was ready chorus. Ibid. Kings may be blest, but Tam was glorious, O'er a' the ills o' life victorious. Ibid. But pleasures are like poppies spread, You seize the flower, its bloom is shed; Or, like the snow-fall in the river, Ibid. Nae man can tether time or tide.1 Ibid. That hour, o' night's black arch the keystane. Ibid. Inspiring, bold John Barleycorn, What dangers thou canst make us scorn! Ibid. As Tammie glow'red, amazed and curious, 1 See Heywood, page 10. Ibid. But to see her was to love her,1 Ae Fond Kiss. Had we never loved sae kindly, Had we never loved sae blindly, To see her is to love her, And love but her forever; For Nature made her what she is, Ye banks and braes o' bonny Doon, And I sae weary fu' o' care? A prince can make a belted knight, But an honest man 's aboon his might, "T is sweeter for thee despairing Ibid. Bonny Lesley. The Banks of Doon. Sweet Sensibility. For a' that and a' that. Than aught in the world beside, Jessy! Some hae meat and canna eat, And some would eat that want it; But we hae meat, and we can eat, Sae let the Lord be thankit. It was a' for our rightfu' King Ibid. Jessy. Grace before Meat. We left fair Scotland's strand. A' for our Rightfu' King.4 1 To know her was to love her. ROGERS: Jacqueline, stanza 1. 2 I weigh the man, not his title; 't is not the king's stamp can make the metal better. WYCHERLY: The Plaindealer, act i. sc. 1. 3 See Southerne, page 282. 4 This ballad first appeared in Johnson's "Museum," 1796. Sir Walter Scott was never tired of hearing it sung. |