Robert Burns

Wee, modest, crimson-tippèd 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.

O, wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as others see us! It wad frae monie a blunder free us, An' foolish notion. What airs in dress an' gait wad lea'e us An' ev'n Devotion

Rejoiced they were na men, but dogs.

An' there began a lang digression About the lords o' the creation.

His lockèd, lettered, braw brass collar Showed him the gentleman an' scholar.

And like a passing thought, she fled In light away.

Misled by fancy's meteor ray, By passion driven; But yet the light that led astray Was light from heaven.

It's hardly in a body's pow'r, To keep, at times, frae being sour.

On ev'ry hand it will allowed be, He's just—nae better than he should be.

For thus the royal mandate ran, When first the human race began, "The social, friendly, honest man, Whate'er he be, 'Tis he fulfills great Nature's plan, And none but he!"

Gie me ae spark o' Nature's fire, That's a' the learning I desire.

O Death! the poor man's dearest friend, The kindest and the best!

Man's inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn.

Nature's law, That man was made to mourn.

When chill November's surly blast Made fields and forests bare.

All in this mottie, misty clime, I backward mus'd on wasted time, How I had spent my youthfu' prime An' done nae-thing, But stringing blethers up to rhyme For fools to sing.

The best laid schemes o' mice and men Gang aft a-gley; And leave us naught but grief and pain For promised joy.

I'm truly sorry Man's dominion Has broken Nature's social union, An' justifies that ill opinion Which makes thee startle, At me, thy poor, earth-born companion, An' fellow-mortal!

Wee, sleekit, cow'rin', tim'rous beastie, O what a panic's in thy breastie! Thou need na start awa sae hasty, Wi' bickering brattle! I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee, Wi' murd'ring pattle!

Gin a body meet a body Comin thro' the rye, Gin a body kiss a body, Need a body cry?