The Creed of Poverty. In politics if thou would'st mix, L. Written in a Lady's Pocket-Book. GRANT me, indulgent Heav'n, that I may live LI. The Parson's Looks.§ THAT there is falsehood in his looks LII. Extempore, PINNED TO A LADY'S COACH. IF you rattle along like your mistress's tongue, [The above is printed verbatim from the original MS. in Burns's hand-writing.] LIII. On Robert Kiddel. To Riddel, much-lamented man, LIV. The Toast. INSTEAD of a song, boys, I'll give you a toast- Bear this in mind, - Be deaf and blind; For their fame it shall last while the world goes * [How fou Bartie was we must leave the men of Kyle to tell: it seems a proverbial saying, and may be interpreted by a line of an old song "I'm no just fou, but I'm gayley yet." The original MS. is preserved in the Paisley Library.] † [When the Board of Excise informed Burns that his business was to act, and not to think, he read the order to a friend, turned the paper, and wrote what he called the "Creed of Poverty."] ["That Burns sympathised with the lovers of liberty in the first out-bursts of the French Revolution, these verses, round. as well as others, sufficiently testify. That freedom was darkening down into despotism in France he lived partly to see; nor was his muse silent in support of order and independence in his native land.-CUNNINGHAM.] [Some one said to Burns that he saw falsehood in a certain Rev. Doctor B.'s very looks; the Poet considered for a moment, and gave his answer in this epigram.] [The first time that Burns rode up Nithside, after the death of his friend of Friar's Carse, he gave a boy his horse to hold, went into the hermitage in the wood, threw himself on a seat, and remained for a full half hour. These lines were traced on the window of the hermitage by the diamond of Burns.] A MASONIC ANNIVERSARY MEETING. FRIDAY first's the day appointed, I' the way of our profession. If death, then, wi' scaith, then, LX. ROBERT BURNS. I MURDER hate, by field or flood, Tho' glory's name may screen us; In wars at hame I'll spend my blood, Life-giving wars of Venus. The deities that I adore, Are social peace and plenty; I'm better pleas'd to make one more, Than be the death o' twenty. LXI. MY bottle is my holy pool, An' ye drink it dry, ye'll find him out. * [Burns was called upon for a song at a dinner of the Dumfries volunteers, in honour of Rodney's victory of the 12th of April, 1782, he replied to the call by reciting the above lines.] † [This personage was landlord of a respectable publichouse in Dumfries, which Burns frequented; in a place where two names abound, he obtained that of the Marquis; and the little court or alley where his change-house stood is still called "The Marquis's Close." In a moment when vanity prevailed against prudence, he desired Burns to write his epitaph. He did it at once-little to the pleasure of the landlord.] [The origin of these lines is curious and accidental. One day, while in the King's Arms Tavern, Dumfries, Burns overheard a country gentleman talking wittily rather than wisely concerning excisemen: the Poet went to a window, and on one of the panes wrote this Rebuke with his diamond. It was taken in good part, as indeed it could not well be otherwise, and remained long on the window an attraction to travellers.] [The Poet ever looked widely abroad; he took no narrowsouled views of anything; he saw that even in the company of folly a wise man might sit down and be edified. "Out of the nettle danger he could pluck the flower safety." There was no hypocrisy or cant in his composition.] || That is, threaten him. LXII. The Selkirk Grace. SOME hae meat, and canna eat, And some wad eat that want it; But we hae meat and we can eat, And sae the Lord be thankit.* LXIII. Innocence. Innocence Looks gaily-smiling on; while rosy pleasure Hides young desire amid her flowery wreath, And pours her cup luxuriant: mantling high The sparkling heavenly vintage, Love and Bliss! [The above exquisite lines appear in Cromek's "Reliques of Burns," and also in the "Letters to Clarinda." The original is in the handwriting of the Poet.] LXIV. On the Poet's Daughter. To those who for her loss are griev'd, LXV. On Gabriel Richardson, BREWER, DUMFRIES. HERE brewer Gabriel's fire's extinct, And empty all his barrels : He's blest-if, as he brew'd, he drink In upright honest morals. LXVI. On the Death of a Lap-Dog, NAMED ECHO. In wood and wild, ye warbling throng, * [On a visit to St. Mary's Isle, the Earl of Selkirk requested Burns to say grace at dinner. These were the words he uttered-they were applauded then, and have since been known in Galloway by the name of "The Selkirk Grace."] + [These tender and affecting lines were written on the death of the Poet's daughter, who died in the autumn of 795. "The autumn," says he, in a letter to Mrs. Dunlop, "robbed me of my only daughter and darling child; and that at a distance too, and so rapidly as to put it out of my power to pay the last duties to her." He loved the child dearly, and mourned her loss with many tears. His own health was also giving way at this time.] [These lines were written on a goblet still preserved in the family. At Gabriel's hospitable table Burns spent many plea sant hours. His son, Dr. Richardson, the distinguished traveller, said the last mark of civilization which he found on his expedition to the north, was poetry-and that by Burns.] § [Burns wrote these lines at Kenmore Castle, an ancient seat of the Gordons. It happened that Mrs. Gordon's lapdog died on the day of the Poet's arrival. She requested an epitaph for him. "This," says Syme, "was setting Hercules to his distaff; he disliked the subject, but to please the lady he would try."] [These sharp squibs were launched against the house of Galloway, during the Heron contest. Though "the Stewart" at first felt offended, he smiled, it is said, when he considered how wayward the muse is, and how hot even the calmest grows during an election.] The origin of these lines is related by Cromek. When politics ran high the Poet happened to be in a tavern, and the following lines-the production of one of "The True Loyal Natives" were handed over the table to Burns: "Ye sons of sedition, give ear to my song, Let Syme, Burns, and Maxwell, pervade every throng; The Poet took out a pencil and instantly wrote the above reply. LXXIV. On a Suicide. I EARTH'D up here lies an imp o' hell, [The hero of these merciless verses was, it is said, a very worthy person, Sir David Maxwell, of Cardoness, who had offended the Poet in the heat of the Heron election. What the offence was has not been stated; but contradiction is enough in election matters, when the wisest men justify the sarcasm of the Frenchman, that the British go stark mad every seven years.] + [He was a good lawyer, keen, acute, fertile in expedients, and full of resources in all pressing emergencies. The peasantry, who hate all stirring attorneys, regarded him with much malevolence; and, as he crossed the Poet in the thorny path of politics, it was reckoned a service rendered the cause of virtue when Burns lampooned him. It is said that as he lay on his death-bed, knock followed knock at his door, and creditor succeeded creditor so fast, demanding money, that the sinking man turned his face sullenly away, and muttered, "They winna let me die, by God!"] ["A melancholy person of the name of Glendinning having taken away his own life was interred at a place called The Old Chapel, close beside Dumfries. Dr. Copland Hutchison happened to be walking out that way; he saw Burns with his foot on the grave, his hat on his knee, and paper laid on his hat, on which he was writing. He then took the paper, and thrust it with his finger into the red mould of the grave, and went away. This was the above LXXV. Lines to John Rankine. He who of Rankine sang, lies stiff and dead, And a green grassy hillock haps his head; Alas! alas! a devilish change indeed! [These lines were written by Burns, while on his death-bed, to John Rankine, and forwarded to Adamhill immediately after the Poet's death.] LXXVI. To Miss Jessy Lewars. But Jessy's lovely hand in mine, LXXVII. The Toast. FILL me with the rosy wine, LXXVIII. ON THE Sickness of Miss Jessy Lewars. SAY, sages, what's the charm on earth Can turn Death's dart aside? It is not purity and worth, Else Jessy had not died.-R. B. epigram, and such was the Poet's mode of publishing it."ALLAN CUNNINGHAM.] [During the last illness of the Poet, Mr. Brown, the surgeon who attended him, came in, and stated that he had been looking at a collection of wild beasts just arrived, and, pulling out the list of the animals, held it out to Jessy Lewars. The Poet snatched it from him, took up a pen, and with red ink wrote the above verses on the back of the paper, saying, "Now it is fit to be presented to a lady." This precious relique is still in her possession.] [One day while the Poet was much indisposed, he observed Jessy Lewars moving, with a light foot, about the house, lest she should disturb him. He took up a crystal goblet containing wine and water for moistening his lips, wrote "The Toast" upon it with a diamond, and presented it to her. "She was," says Gilbert Burns, "a deservedly great favourite of the Poet and a soothing friend to Mrs. Burns at the time of his death."] [The constancy of her attendance and the anxiety of her mind made Jessy Lewars suffer a slight indisposition. "You must not die yet," said the Poet with a smile; "however, I shall provide for the worst. Give me that goblet, and I'll write your epitaph." He wrote these four lines with his diamond, and, presenting the goblet, said, "That will be a companion to 'The Toast.' '"] Z † [Burns at one period was in the habit of receiving the Star newspaper gratuitously from the publisher; but as it came irregularly to hand, he sent the above lines to head quarters, to insure more punctuality.] * [A little repose brought health back to the young lady. On this Burns said, smiling, "I knew you would get better; you have much to do before you die, believe me. Besides, there is a poetic reason for your recovery." So saying, he took up a pen and wrote the above.] END OF THE POEMS. |