[A friend asked the poet why God made Miss Davies so little, and a
lady who was with her, so large: before the ladies, who had just
passed the window, were out of sight, the following answer was
recorded on a pane of glass.
lady who was with her, so large: before the ladies, who had just
passed the window, were out of sight, the following answer was
recorded on a pane of glass.
Robert Burns
cry'd Satan, "By ----,
I'll want him, ere I take such a damnable load! "
* * * * *
XXXII.
IMPROMPTU,
TO MISS AINSLIE.
[These lines were occasioned by a sermon on sin, to which the poet and
Miss Ainslie of Berrywell had listened, during his visit to the
border. ]
Fair maid, you need not take the hint,
Nor idle texts pursue:--
'Twas guilty sinners that he meant,
Not angels such as you!
* * * * *
XXXIII.
THE KIRK OF LAMINGTON.
[One rough, cold day, Burns listened to a sermon, so little to his
liking, in the kirk of Lamington, in Clydesdale, that he left this
protest on the seat where he sat. ]
As cauld a wind as ever blew,
As caulder kirk, and in't but few;
As cauld a minister's e'er spak,
Ye'se a' be het ere I come back.
* * * * *
XXXIV.
THE LEAGUE AND COVENANT.
[In answer to a gentleman, who called the solemn League and Covenant
ridiculous and fanatical. ]
The solemn League and Covenant
Cost Scotland blood--cost Scotland tears;
But it sealed freedom's sacred cause--
If thou'rt a slave, indulge thy sneers.
* * * * *
XXXV.
WRITTEN ON A PANE OF GLASS,
IN THE INN AT MOFFAT.
[A friend asked the poet why God made Miss Davies so little, and a
lady who was with her, so large: before the ladies, who had just
passed the window, were out of sight, the following answer was
recorded on a pane of glass. ]
Ask why God made the gem so small,
And why so huge the granite?
Because God meant mankind should set
The higher value on it.
* * * * *
XXXVI.
SPOKEN,
ON BEING APPOINTED TO THE EXCISE.
[Burns took no pleasure in the name of gauger: the situation was
unworthy of him, and he seldom hesitated to say so. ]
Searching auld wives' barrels,
Och--hon! the day!
That clarty barm should stain my laurels;
But--what'll ye say!
These movin' things ca'd wives and weans
Wad move the very hearts o' stanes!
* * * * *
XXXVII.
LINES ON MRS. KEMBLE.
[The poet wrote these lines in Mrs. Riddel's box in the Dumfries
Theatre, in the winter of 1794: he was much moved by Mrs. Kemble's
noble and pathetic acting.
I'll want him, ere I take such a damnable load! "
* * * * *
XXXII.
IMPROMPTU,
TO MISS AINSLIE.
[These lines were occasioned by a sermon on sin, to which the poet and
Miss Ainslie of Berrywell had listened, during his visit to the
border. ]
Fair maid, you need not take the hint,
Nor idle texts pursue:--
'Twas guilty sinners that he meant,
Not angels such as you!
* * * * *
XXXIII.
THE KIRK OF LAMINGTON.
[One rough, cold day, Burns listened to a sermon, so little to his
liking, in the kirk of Lamington, in Clydesdale, that he left this
protest on the seat where he sat. ]
As cauld a wind as ever blew,
As caulder kirk, and in't but few;
As cauld a minister's e'er spak,
Ye'se a' be het ere I come back.
* * * * *
XXXIV.
THE LEAGUE AND COVENANT.
[In answer to a gentleman, who called the solemn League and Covenant
ridiculous and fanatical. ]
The solemn League and Covenant
Cost Scotland blood--cost Scotland tears;
But it sealed freedom's sacred cause--
If thou'rt a slave, indulge thy sneers.
* * * * *
XXXV.
WRITTEN ON A PANE OF GLASS,
IN THE INN AT MOFFAT.
[A friend asked the poet why God made Miss Davies so little, and a
lady who was with her, so large: before the ladies, who had just
passed the window, were out of sight, the following answer was
recorded on a pane of glass. ]
Ask why God made the gem so small,
And why so huge the granite?
Because God meant mankind should set
The higher value on it.
* * * * *
XXXVI.
SPOKEN,
ON BEING APPOINTED TO THE EXCISE.
[Burns took no pleasure in the name of gauger: the situation was
unworthy of him, and he seldom hesitated to say so. ]
Searching auld wives' barrels,
Och--hon! the day!
That clarty barm should stain my laurels;
But--what'll ye say!
These movin' things ca'd wives and weans
Wad move the very hearts o' stanes!
* * * * *
XXXVII.
LINES ON MRS. KEMBLE.
[The poet wrote these lines in Mrs. Riddel's box in the Dumfries
Theatre, in the winter of 1794: he was much moved by Mrs. Kemble's
noble and pathetic acting.
