Robert Burns: Home.:
Home. 1786 Type: Poem O thou pale orb that silent shines While care-untroubled mortals sleep! Thou seest a wretch who inly pines. And wanders here to wail and weep! With woe I nightly vigils keep, Beneath thy wan, unwarming beam; And mourn, in lamentation deep, How life and love are all a dream! I […]
Robert Burns: The Lament: Occasioned by the unfortunate issue of a Friend’s Amour.
The Lament Occasioned by the unfortunate issue of a Friend’s Amour.1786 Type: Poem Alas! how oft does goodness would itself, And sweet affection prove the spring of woe! ————- Home Robert Burns Collection Fledermausi’s Poetry Page Poetry from Scotland Poetry by subject Poems by author and category Parallel translations, the parallel world of translating poetry […]
Robert Burns: To Ruin:
To Ruin 1786 Type: Poem All hail! inexorable lord! At whose destruction-breathing word, The mightiest empires fall! Thy cruel, woe-delighted train, The ministers of grief and pain, A sullen welcome, all! With stern-resolv’d, despairing eye, I see each aimed dart; For one has cut my dearest tie, And quivers in my heart. Then low’ring, […]
Robert Burns: To A Mountain Daisy: On turning down with the Plough, in April, 1786.
To A Mountain Daisy On turning down with the Plough, in April, 1786.1786 Type: Poem Wee, modest crimson-tipped flow’r, Thou’s met me in an evil hour; For I maun crush amang the stoure Thy slender stem: To spare thee now is past my pow’r, Thou bonie gem. Alas! it’s no thy neibor sweet, The bonie […]
Robert Burns: Ploughman’s Life, The:
Ploughman’s Life, The 1771-1779 Type: Poem As I was a-wand’ring ae morning in spring, I heard a young ploughman sae sweetly to sing; And as he was singin’, thir words he did say, – There’s nae life like the ploughman’s in the month o’ sweet May. The lav’rock in the morning she’ll rise frae […]
Robert Burns: Montgomerie’s Peggy:
Montgomerie’s Peggy 1771-1779 Type: Song Tune: Galla Water. Altho’ my bed were in yon muir, Amang the heather, in my plaidie; Yet happy, happy would I be, Had I my dear Montgomerie’s Peggy. When o’er the hill beat surly storms, And winter nights were dark and rainy; I’d seek some dell, and in my […]
Robert Burns: Epistle To The Rev. John M’math: Inclosing A Copy Of “Holy Willie’s Prayer,” Which He Had Requested
Epistle To The Rev. John M’math Inclosing A Copy Of “Holy Willie’s Prayer,” Which He Had Requested1785 Type: Epistle While at the stook the shearers cow’r To shun the bitter blaudin’ show’r, Or in gulravage rinnin scowr To pass the time, To you I dedicate the hour In idle rhyme. My musie, tir’d wi’ mony […]
Robert Burns: Ah, Woe Is Me, My Mother Dear: Paraphrase of Jeremiah, 15th Chap., 10th verse
Ah, Woe Is Me, My Mother Dear Paraphrase of Jeremiah, 15th Chap., 10th verse1771-1779 Type: Poem Ah, woe is me, my mother dear! A man of strife ye’ve born me: For sair contention I maun bear; They hate, revile, and scorn me. I ne’er could lend on bill or band, That five per cent. might […]
Robert Burns: Third Epistle To J. Lapraik:
Third Epistle To J. Lapraik 1785 Type: Epistle Guid speed and furder to you, Johnie, Guid health, hale han’s, an’ weather bonie; Now, when ye’re nickin down fu’ cannie The staff o’ bread, May ye ne’er want a stoup o’ bran’y To clear your head. May Boreas never thresh your rigs, Nor kick your […]
Robert Burns: The Holy Fair:
The Holy Fair 1785 Type: Poem A robe of seeming truth and trust Hid crafty Observation; And secret hung, with poison’d crust, The dirk of Defamation: A mask that like the gorget show’d, Dye-varying on the pigeon; And for a mantle large and broad, He wrapt him in Religion. Hypocrisy A-La-Mode Upon a simmer […]
Robert Burns: Epistle To John Goldie, In Kilmarnock: Author Of The Gospel Recovered.
Epistle To John Goldie, In Kilmarnock Author Of The Gospel Recovered.1785 Type: Epistle O Gowdie, terror o’ the whigs, Dread o’ blackcoats and rev’rend wigs! Sour Bigotry, on her last legs, Girns an’ looks back, Wishing the ten Egyptian plagues May seize you quick. Poor gapin’, glowrin’ Superstition! Wae’s me, she’s in a sad condition: […]
Robert Burns: Elegy On The Death Of Robert Ruisseaux:
Elegy On The Death Of Robert Ruisseaux 1785 Type: Elegy Now Robin lies in his last lair, He’ll gabble rhyme, nor sing nae mair; Cauld poverty, wi’ hungry stare, Nae mair shall fear him; Nor anxious fear, nor cankert care, E’er mair come near him. To tell the truth, they seldom fash’d him, Except […]
Robert Burns: Rantin’, Rovin’ Robin:
Rantin’, Rovin’ Robin 1785 Type: Song Tune: Daintie Davie. There was a lad was born in Kyle, But whatna day o’ whatna style, I doubt it’s hardly worth the while To be sae nice wi’ Robin. Chor. – Robin was a rovin’ boy, Rantin’, rovin’, rantin’, rovin’, Robin was a rovin’ boy, Rantin’, rovin’, […]
Robert Burns: Tho’ Cruel Fate Should Bid Us Part:
Tho’ Cruel Fate Should Bid Us Part 1785 Type: Song Tune: The Northern Lass Tho’ cruel fate should bid us part, Far as the pole and line, Her dear idea round my heart, Should tenderly entwine. Tho’ mountains, rise, and deserts howl, And oceans roar between; Yet, dearer than my deathless soul, I still […]
Robert Burns: One Night As I Did Wander:
One Night As I Did Wander 1785 Type: Song Tune: John Anderson, my jo. One night as I did wander, When corn begins to shoot, I sat me down to ponder Upon an auld tree root; Auld Ayr ran by before me, And bicker’d to the seas; A cushat crooded o’er me, That echoed […]
Robert Burns: Second Epistle To J. Lapraik:
Second Epistle To J. Lapraik 1785 Type: Epistle While new-ca’d kye rowte at the stake An’ pownies reek in pleugh or braik, This hour on e’enin’s edge I take, To own I’m debtor To honest-hearted, auld Lapraik, For his kind letter. Forjesket sair, with weary legs, Rattlin the corn out-owre the rigs, Or dealing […]
Robert Burns: Epistle To J. Lapraik, An Old Scottish Bard:
Epistle To J. Lapraik, An Old Scottish Bard 1785 Type: Epistle While briers an’ woodbines budding green, An’ paitricks scraichin loud at e’en, An’ morning poussie whiddin seen, Inspire my muse, This freedom, in an unknown frien’, I pray excuse. On Fasten-e’en we had a rockin, To ca’ the crack and weave our stockin; […]
Robert Burns: Death and Doctor Hornbook : A True Story
Death and Doctor Hornbook A True Story1785 Type: Poem Some books are lies frae end to end, And some great lies were never penn’d: Ev’n ministers they hae been kenn’d, In holy rapture, A rousing whid at times to vend, And nail’t wi’ Scripture. But this that I am gaun to tell, Which lately on […]
Robert Burns: Tarbolton Lasses, The:
Tarbolton Lasses, The 1771-1779 Type: Poem If ye gae up to yon hill-tap, Ye’ll there see bonie Peggy; She kens her father is a laird, And she forsooth’s a leddy. There Sophy tight, a lassie bright, Besides a handsome fortune: Wha canna win her in a night, Has little art in courtin’. Gae down […]
Robert Burns: Epitaph On Holy Willie:
Epitaph On Holy Willie 1785 Type: Epitaph Here Holy Willie’s sair worn clay Taks up its last abode; His saul has ta’en some other way, I fear, the left-hand road. Stop! there he is, as sure’s a gun, Poor, silly body, see him; Nae wonder he’s as black’s the grun, Observe wha’s standing wi’ […]
Robert Burns: Holy Willie’s Prayer: “And send the godly in a pet to pray.” – Pope.
Holy Willie’s Prayer “And send the godly in a pet to pray.” – Pope.1785 Type: Poem Argument. Holy Willie was a rather oldish bachelor elder, in the parish of Mauchline, and much and justly famed for that polemical chattering, which ends in tippling orthodoxy, and for that spiritualized bawdry which refines to liquorish devotion. In […]
Robert Burns: Epistle To Davie, A Brother Poet:
Epistle To Davie, A Brother Poet 1785 Type: Epistle January While winds frae aff Ben-Lomond blaw, An’ bar the doors wi’ driving snaw, An’ hing us owre the ingle, I set me down to pass the time, An’ spin a verse or twa o’ rhyme, In hamely, westlin jingle. While frosty winds blaw in […]
Robert Burns: The Twa Herds; Or, The Holy Tulyie: An Unco Mournfu’ Tale
The Twa Herds; Or, The Holy Tulyie An Unco Mournfu’ Tale 1784 Type: Poem “Blockheads with reason wicked wits abhor, But fool with fool is barbarous civil war,” Pope O a’ ye pious godly flocks, Weel fed on pastures orthodox, Wha now will keep you frae the fox, Or worrying tykes? Or wha will tent […]
Robert Burns: Man Was Made To Mourn: A Dirge:
Man Was Made To Mourn: A Dirge 1784 Type: Dirge When chill November’s surly blast Made fields and forests bare, One ev’ning, as I wander’d forth Along the banks of Ayr, I spied a man, whose aged step Seem’d weary, worn with care; His face furrow’d o’er with years, And hoary was his hair. […]
Robert Burns: Lines On The Author’s Death: Written With The Supposed View Of Being Handed To Rankine After The Poet’s Interment
Lines On The Author’s Death Written With The Supposed View Of Being Handed To Rankine After The Poet’s Interment 1784 Type: Poem He who of Rankine sang, lies stiff and dead, And a green grassy hillock hides his head; Alas! alas! a devilish change indeed. ————- Home Robert Burns Collection Fledermausi’s Poetry Page Poetry from […]
Robert Burns: Epitaph On John Rankine:
Epitaph On John Rankine 1784 Type: Epitaph Ae day, as Death, that gruesome carl, Was driving to the tither warl’ A mixtie-maxtie motley squad, And mony a guilt-bespotted lad- Black gowns of each denomination, And thieves of every rank and station, From him that wears the star and garter, To him that wintles in […]
Robert Burns: On Tam The Chapman:
On Tam The Chapman 1784 Type: Poem As Tam the chapman on a day, Wi’Death forgather’d by the way, Weel pleas’d, he greets a wight so famous, And Death was nae less pleas’d wi’ Thomas, Wha cheerfully lays down his pack, And there blaws up a hearty crack: His social, friendly, honest heart Sae […]
Robert Burns: Another [Epigram On The Said Occasion… On A Henpecked Country Squire]:
Another [Epigram On The Said Occasion… On A Henpecked Country Squire] 1784 Type: Epigram One Queen Artemisia, as old stories tell, When deprived of her husband she loved so well, In respect for the love and affection he show’d her, She reduc’d him to dust and she drank up the powder. But Queen Netherplace, […]
Robert Burns: Epigram On The Said Occasion [On A Henpecked Country Squire]:
Epigram On The Said Occasion [On A Henpecked Country Squire] 1784 Type: Epigram O Death, had’st thou but spar’d his life, Whom we this day lament, We freely wad exchanged the wife, And a’ been weel content. Ev’n as he is, cauld in his graff, The swap we yet will do’t; Tak thou the […]
Robert Burns: Tragic Fragment:
Tragic Fragment 1771-1779 Type: Poem All devil as I am-a damned wretch, A hardened, stubborn, unrepenting villain, Still my heart melts at human wretchedness; And with sincere but unavailing sighs I view the helpless children of distress: With tears indignant I behold the oppressor Rejoicing in the honest man’s destruction, Whose unsubmitting heart was […]
Robert Burns: On A Henpecked Country Squire:
On A Henpecked Country Squire 1784 Type: Epitaph As father Adam first was fool’d, (A case that’s still too common,) Here lies man a woman ruled, The devil ruled the woman. ————- Home Robert Burns Collection Fledermausi’s Poetry Page Poetry from Scotland Poetry by subject Poems by author and category Parallel translations, the parallel […]
Robert Burns: On A Noisy Polemic:
On A Noisy Polemic 1784 Type: Epitaph Below thir stanes lie Jamie’s banes; O Death, it’s my opinion, Thou ne’er took such a bleth’rin bitch Into thy dark dominion! ————- Home Robert Burns Collection Fledermausi’s Poetry Page Poetry from Scotland Poetry by subject Poems by author and category Parallel translations, the parallel world of […]
Robert Burns: The Belles Of Mauchline:
The Belles Of Mauchline 1784 Type: Poem In Mauchline there dwells six proper young belles, The pride of the place and its neighbourhood a’; Their carriage and dress, a stranger would guess, In Lon’on or Paris, they’d gotten it a’. Miss Miller is fine, Miss Markland’s divine, Miss Smith she has wit, and Miss […]
Robert Burns: My Girl She’s Airy: Fragment
My Girl She’s Airy Fragment1784 Type: Song Tune: Black Jock. My girl she’s airy, she’s buxom and gay; Her breath is as sweet as the blossoms in May; A touch of her lips it ravishes quite: She’s always good natur’d, good humour’d, and free; She dances, she glances, she smiles upon me; I never am […]
Robert Burns: The Mauchline Lady: Fragment
The Mauchline Lady Fragment1784 Type: Song Tune: I had a horse, I had nae mair. When first I came to Stewart Kyle, My mind it was na steady; Where’er I gaed, where’er I rade, A mistress still I had aye. But when I came roun’ by Mauchline toun, Not dreadin anybody, My heart was caught, […]
Robert Burns: O Leave Novels:
O Leave Novels 1784 Type: Song O leave novels, ye Mauchline belles, Ye’re safer at your spinning-wheel; Such witching books are baited hooks For rakish rooks, like Rob Mossgiel; Your fine Tom Jones and Grandisons, They make your youthful fancies reel; They heat your brains, and fire your veins, And then you’re prey for […]
Robert Burns: A Poet’s Welcome To His Love-Begotten Daughter: The First Instance That Entitled Him To The Venerable Appellation Of Father
A Poet’s Welcome To His Love-Begotten Daughter The First Instance That Entitled Him To The Venerable Appellation Of Father1784 Type: Poem Thou’s welcome, wean; mishanter fa’ me, If thoughts o’ thee, or yet thy mamie, Shall ever daunton me or awe me, My bonie lady, Or if I blush when thou shalt ca’ me Tyta […]
Robert Burns: Epistle To John Rankine: Enclosing Some Poems
Epistle To John Rankine Enclosing Some Poems1784 Type: Epistle O Rough, rude, ready-witted Rankine, The wale o’ cocks for fun an’ drinkin! There’s mony godly folks are thinkin, Your dreams and tricks Will send you, Korah-like, a-sinkin Straught to auld Nick’s. Ye hae saw mony cracks an’ cants, And in your wicked, drucken rants, Ye […]
Robert Burns: Reply To An Announcement By J. Rankine: On His Writing To The Poet, That A Girl In That Part Of The Country Was With A Child To Him.
Reply To An Announcement By J. Rankine On His Writing To The Poet, That A Girl In That Part Of The Country Was With A Child To Him.1784 Type: Reply I am a keeper of the law In some sma’ points, altho’ not a’; Some people tell me gin I fa’, Ae way or ither, […]
Robert Burns: Ballad On The American War:
Ballad On The American War 1784 Type: Song Tune: Killiecrankie. When Guilford good our pilot stood An’ did our hellim thraw, man, Ae night, at tea, began a plea, Within America, man: Then up they gat the maskin-pat, And in the sea did jaw, man; An’ did nae less, in full congress, Than quite […]