Page:The poetical works of Robert Burns.djvu/134

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THE POEMS OF BURNS.
Tho' here they scrape, an' squeeze, an' growl,Their worthless nievefu' of a soulMay in some future carcase howl,The forest's fright;Or in some day-detesting owlMay shun the light.
Then may Lapraik and Burns arise,To reach their native, kindred skies,And sing their pleasures, hopes, an' joys,In some mild sphere,Still closer knit in friendship's tiesEach passing year!

TO WILLIAM SIMPSON.

OCHILTREE.

May, 1785.

I gat your letter, winsome Willie;Wi' gratefu' heart I thank you brawlie;Tho' I maun say't, I wad be silly,An' unco vain,Should I believe, my coaxin billie,Your flatterin strain.
But I'se believe ye kindly meant it,I sud be laith to think ye hintedIronic satire, sidelins sklentedOn my poor Musie;Tho' in sic phraisin terms ye've penn'd it,I scarce excuse ye.
My senses wad be in a creel,Should I but dare a hope to speel,Wi' Allan, or wi' Gilbertfield,The braes o' fame;Or Ferguson, the writer-chiel,A deathless name.
(O Ferguson! thy glorious partsIll suited law's dry, musty arts!My curse upon your whunstane hearts,Ye Enbrugh Gentry!The tythe o' what ye waste at cartesWad stow'd his pantry!)
Yet when a tale comes i' my head,Or lasses gie my heart a screed,As whiles they're like to be my dead,(O sad disease!)I kittle up my rustic reed;It gies me ease.
Auld Coila, now, may fidge fu' fain,She's gotten Bardies o' her ain,Chiels wha their chanters winna hain,But tune their lays,Till echoes a' resound againHer weel-sung praise.
Nae Poet thought her worth his while,To set her name in measur'd style;She lay like some unkend-of isle,Beside New Holland,Or whare wild-meeting oceans boilBesouth Magellan.
Ramsay an' famous FergusonGied Forth an' Tay a lift aboon;Yarrow an' Tweed, to monie a tune,Owre Scotland rings,While Irwin, Lugar, Ayr, an' Doon,Naebody sings.
Th' Ilissus, Tiber, Thames, an' Seine,Glide sweet in monie a tunefu' line!But, Willie, set your fit to mine,An' cock your crest,We'll gar our streams an' burnies shineUp wi' the best.
We'll sing auld Coila's plains an' fells,Her moors red-brown wi' heather bells,Her banks an' braes, her dens an' dells,Where glorious WallaceAft bure the gree, as story tells,Frae suthron billies.
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