Robbie Burns: “To a Louse”
Posted: January 25, 2012 Filed under: English: Scots, Robert Burns Comments Off on Robbie Burns: “To a Louse”
Filippo Bonanni_Drawing of a louse observed under a microscope_1709
“To a Louse*:
On Seeing One on a Lady’s Bonnet, at Church”
(1786)
.
Ha! whaur ye gaun, ye crowlin ferlie?
Your impudence protects you sairly;
I canna say but ye strunt rarely,
Owre gauze and lace;
Tho’, faith! I fear ye dine but sparely
On sic a place.
Ye ugly, creepin, blastit wonner,
Detested, shunn’d by saunt an’ sinner,
How daur ye set your fit upon her-
Sae fine a lady?
Gae somewhere else and seek your dinner
On some poor body.
Swith! in some beggar’s haffet squattle;
There ye may creep, and sprawl, and sprattle,
Wi’ ither kindred, jumping cattle,
In shoals and nations;
Whaur horn nor bane ne’er daur unsettle
Your thick plantations.
Now haud you there, ye’re out o’ sight,
Below the fatt’rels, snug and tight;
Na, faith ye yet! ye’ll no be right,
Till ye’ve got on it-
The verra tapmost, tow’rin height
O’ Miss’ bonnet.
My sooth! right bauld ye set your nose out,
As plump an’ grey as ony groset:
O for some rank, mercurial rozet,
Or fell, red smeddum,
I’d gie you sic a hearty dose o’t,
Wad dress your droddum.
I wad na been surpris’d to spy
You on an auld wife’s flainen toy;
Or aiblins some bit dubbie boy,
On’s wyliecoat;
But Miss’ fine Lunardi! fye!
How daur ye do’t?
O Jeany, dinna toss your head,
An’ set your beauties a’ abread!
Ye little ken what cursed speed
The blastie’s makin:
Thae winks an’ finger-ends, I dread,
Are notice takin.
O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae mony a blunder free us,
An’ foolish notion:
What airs in dress an’ gait wad lea’e us,
An’ ev’n devotion!
.
*Louse = the singular of Lice
. . . . .
Robbie Burns: “A Bottle and Friend”
Posted: January 25, 2012 Filed under: English: Scots, Robert Burns Comments Off on Robbie Burns: “A Bottle and Friend”
Balblair Distillery in Scotland
“A Bottle and Friend”
(1789)
.
There’s nane that’s blest of human kind,
But the cheerful and the gay, man,
Fal, la, la, &c.
Here’s a bottle and an honest friend!
What wad ye wish for mair, man?
Wha kens, before his life may end,
What his share may be o’ care, man?
Then catch the moments as they fly,
And use them as ye ought, man:
Believe me, happiness is shy,
And comes not aye when sought, man.
. . .
Scotland’s “Bard”,
Robert Burns (1759-1796),
was born on
this day – January 25th.
. . . . .
Auld Lang Syne: Tonight at Midnight
Posted: December 31, 2011 Filed under: English, English: Scots, Robert Burns Comments Off on Auld Lang Syne: Tonight at Midnight_____
Auld Lang Syne
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!
For auld lang syne, my jo,
For auld lang syne.
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
And surely ye’ll be your pint stowp!
And surely I’ll be mine!
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
For auld lang syne, my jo,
For auld lang syne.
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou’d the gowans fine;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit,
Sin’ auld lang syne.
For auld lang syne, my jo,
For auld lang syne.
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
We twa hae paidl’d in the burn,
Frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
Sin’ auld lang syne.
For auld lang syne, my jo,
For auld lang syne.
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
And there’s a hand, my trusty fere!
And gie’s a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll tak a right gude-willie waught,
For auld lang syne.
For auld lang syne, my jo,
For auld lang syne.
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For Auld Lang Syne.
_____
“Old Long Past” (For the Sake of Times Gone By)
And for old long past, my joy*,
For old long past,
We’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
For the sake of times gone by.
CHORUS: Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And days of old long past.
And surely you’ll pay for your 3-pint-vessel!
And surely I’ll pay for mine!
And we’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
For the sake of times gone by.
CHORUS
We two have run about the hillsides
And pulled wild daisies fine;
But we’ve wandered many a weary foot
Since old long past.
CHORUS
We two have paddled in the stream,
From morning sun till noon;
But seas between us broad have roared
Since old long past.
CHORUS
And here’s a hand, my trusty friend!
And give me a hand of yours!
And we’ll take a right good-will drink,
For the sake of times gone by.
CHORUS: Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And days of Old Long Past.
*joy — “joy” means sweetheart, but “dear” or “friend”
may also be sung
_____
Robert Burns (1759-1796) wrote his poem “Auld Lang Syne”
in 1788. It is in Scots’ dialect which is not, strictly speaking,
a hybrid of Gaelic and English, since it is derived also from
other linguistic strains.
A variant is spoken in Northern Ireland, where it is known as
Ulster Scots.
“Auld Lang Syne” has become a New Year’s Eve favourite,
the words sung to a traditional folk melody at the stroke
of midnight and into the first minutes of January 1st.
_____
Zócalo Poets 