The Complete Works. Robert Burns

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IV.

       Table of Contents

FIRST EPISTLE TO DAVIE,

       Table of Contents

      A BROTHER POET

      [In the summer of 1781, Burns, while at work in the garden, repeated this Epistle to his brother Gilbert, who was much pleased with the performance, which he considered equal if not superior to some of Allan Ramsay’s Epistles, and said if it were printed he had no doubt that it would be well received by people of taste.]

      —January, [1784.]

      I.

      While winds frae aff Ben-Lomond blaw,

       And bar the doors wi’ driving snaw,

       And hing us owre the ingle,

       I set me down to pass the time,

       And spin a verse or twa o’ rhyme,

       In hamely westlin jingle.

       While frosty winds blaw in the drift,

       Ben to the chimla lug,

       I grudge a wee the great folks’ gift,

       That live sae bien an’ snug:

       I tent less and want less

       Their roomy fire-side;

       But hanker and canker

       To see their cursed pride.

      II.

      It’s hardly in a body’s power

       To keep, at times, frae being sour,

       To see how things are shar’d;

       How best o’ chiels are whiles in want.

       While coofs on countless thousands rant,

       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,

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