Page:The poetical works of Robert Burns.djvu/214
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THE POEMS OF BURNS.
EPITAPH ON THE POET'S DAUGHTER.
Here lies a rose, a budding rose,
Blasted before its bloom;
Whose innocence did sweets disclose
Beyond that flower's perfume.
To those who for her loss are grieved,
This consolation's given—
She's from a world of woe relieved,
And blooms a rose in Heaven.
Blasted before its bloom;
Whose innocence did sweets disclose
Beyond that flower's perfume.
To those who for her loss are grieved,
This consolation's given—
She's from a world of woe relieved,
And blooms a rose in Heaven.
EPITAPH ON GABRIEL RICHARDSON.
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.
And empty all his barrels;
He's blest—if, as he brew'd, he drink
In upright honest morals.
ON STIRLING.
Here Stuarts once in glory reign'd,
And laws for Scotland's weal ordain'd;
But now unroof'd their palace stands,
Their sceptre's sway'd by other hands;
The injured Stuart line is gone,
A race outlandish fills their throne.
An idiot race to honour lost,
Who know them best, despise them most.
And laws for Scotland's weal ordain'd;
But now unroof'd their palace stands,
Their sceptre's sway'd by other hands;
The injured Stuart line is gone,
A race outlandish fills their throne.
An idiot race to honour lost,
Who know them best, despise them most.
LINES
ON BEING TOLD THAT THE ABOVE VERSES WOULD AFFECT HIS PROSPECTS.
Rash mortal, and slanderous poet, thy name
Shall no longer appear in the records of fame;
Dost not know that old Mansfield, who writes like the Bible,
Says the more 'tis a truth, sir, the more 'tis a libel?
Shall no longer appear in the records of fame;
Dost not know that old Mansfield, who writes like the Bible,
Says the more 'tis a truth, sir, the more 'tis a libel?
THE REPLY.
Like Esop's lion, Burns says, sore I feel
All others scorn—but damn that ass's heel.
All others scorn—but damn that ass's heel.
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