The Complete Works. Robert Burns

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      And ken na how to wair’t;

      But Davie, lad, ne’er fash your head,

      Tho’ we hae little gear,

      We’re fit to win our daily bread,

      As lang’s we’re hale and fier:

      “Muir spier na, nor fear na,”[4]

      Auld age ne’er mind a feg,

      The last o’t, the warst o’t,

      Is only but to beg.

      III.

      To lie in kilns and barns at e’en

      When banes are craz’d, and bluid is thin,

      Is, doubtless, great distress!

      Yet then content could make us blest;

      Ev’n then, sometimes we’d snatch a taste

      O’ truest happiness.

      The honest heart that’s free frae a’

      Intended fraud or guile,

      However Fortune kick the ba’,

      Has ay some cause to smile:

      And mind still, you’ll find still,

      A comfort this nae sma’;

      Nae mair then, we’ll care then,

      Nae farther we can fa’.

      IV.

      What tho’, like commoners of air,

      We wander out we know not where,

      But either house or hall?

      Yet nature’s charms, the hills and woods,

      The sweeping vales, and foaming floods,

      Are free alike to all.

      In days when daisies deck the ground,

      And blackbirds whistle clear,

      With honest joy our hearts will bound

      To see the coming year:

      On braes when we please, then,

      We’ll sit and sowth a tune;

      Syne rhyme till’t we’ll time till’t,

      And sing’t when we hae done.

      V.

      It’s no in titles nor in rank;

      It’s no in wealth like Lon’on bank,

      To purchase peace and rest;

      It’s no in makin muckle mair;

      It’s no in books, it’s no in lear,

      To make us truly blest;

      If happiness hae not her seat

      And centre in the breast,

      We may be wise, or rich, or great,

      But never can be blest:

      Nae treasures, nor pleasures,

      Could make us happy lang;

      The heart ay’s the part ay

      That makes us right or wrang.

      VI.

      Think ye, that sic as you and I,

      Wha drudge and drive thro’ wet an’ dry,

      Wi’ never-ceasing toil;

      Think ye, are we less blest than they,

      Wha scarcely tent us in their way,

      As hardly worth their while?

      Alas! how aft, in haughty mood

      God’s creatures they oppress!

      Or else, neglecting a’ that’s guid,

      They riot in excess!

      Baith careless and fearless

      Of either heaven or hell!

      Esteeming and deeming

      It’s a’ an idle tale!

      VII.

      Then let us cheerfu’ acquiesce;

      Nor make one scanty pleasures less,

      By pining at our state;

      And, even should misfortunes come,

      I, here wha sit, hae met wi’ some,

      An’s thankfu’ for them yet.

      They gie the wit of age to youth;

      They let us ken oursel’;

      They make us see the naked truth,

      The real guid and ill.

      Tho’ losses, and crosses,

      Be lessons right severe,

      There’s wit there, ye’ll get there,

      Ye’ll find nae other where.

      VIII.

      But tent me, Davie, ace o’ hearts!

      (To say aught less wad wrang the cartes,

      And flatt’ry I detest,)

      This life has joys for you and I;

      And joys that riches ne’er could buy:

      And joys the very best.

      There’s a’ the pleasures o’ the heart,

      The lover an’ the frien’;

      Ye hae your Meg your dearest part,

      And I my darling Jean!

      It warms me, it charms me,

      To mention but her name:

      It heats me, it beets me,

      And sets me a’ on flame!

      IX.

      O, all ye pow’rs who rule above!

      O, Thou, whose very self art love!

      Thou know’st my words sincere!

      The life-blood streaming thro’ my heart,

      Or my more dear immortal part,

      Is not more fondly dear!

      When heart-corroding care and grief

      Deprive my soul of rest,

      Her dear idea brings relief

      And solace to my breast.

      Thou Being, All-seeing,

      O hear my fervent pray’r!

      Still take her, and make her

      Thy most peculiar care!

      X.

      All hail, ye tender feelings dear!

      The smile of love, the friendly tear,

      The sympathetic glow!

      Long since, this world’s thorny ways

      Had number’d out my weary days,

      Had it not been for you!

      Fate still has blest me with a friend,

      In every care and ill;

      And oft a more endearing hand,

      A tie more tender still.

      It lightens, it brightens

      The tenebrific scene,

      To meet with, and greet with

      My Davie or my Jean!

      XI.

      O, how that name inspires my style

      The words come skelpin, rank and file,

      Amaist before I ken!

      The ready measure rins as fine,

      As Phœbus and the famous Nine

      Were glowrin owre my СКАЧАТЬ