The Works of Robert Burns, Volume 4A. Fullarton and Company, 1841 |
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Page 25
... reason why I might not rhyme as well as he ; for , excepting that he could smear sheep , and cast peats , his father living in the moorlands , he had no more scholar - craft than myself . Thus with me began love and poetry ; which at ...
... reason why I might not rhyme as well as he ; for , excepting that he could smear sheep , and cast peats , his father living in the moorlands , he had no more scholar - craft than myself . Thus with me began love and poetry ; which at ...
Page 50
... reasons , cannot see . These I shall send you before I leave Edinburgh . They may make you laugh a little , which , on the whole , is no bad way of spend . ing one's precious hours and still more precious breath : at any rate , they ...
... reasons , cannot see . These I shall send you before I leave Edinburgh . They may make you laugh a little , which , on the whole , is no bad way of spend . ing one's precious hours and still more precious breath : at any rate , they ...
Page 62
... reason , I will not pretend to go through the whole poem . Some few remaining beautiful lines , how- ever , I cannot pass over . Verse 280th is the strongest de- ever saw . The comparison in scription of selfishness I verses 285th and ...
... reason , I will not pretend to go through the whole poem . Some few remaining beautiful lines , how- ever , I cannot pass over . Verse 280th is the strongest de- ever saw . The comparison in scription of selfishness I verses 285th and ...
Page 78
... reason as much as they please ; but I have always found an honest passion , or native in- stinct , the truest auxiliary in the warfare of this world . Reason almost always comes to me like an unlucky wife to a poor devil of a husband ...
... reason as much as they please ; but I have always found an honest passion , or native in- stinct , the truest auxiliary in the warfare of this world . Reason almost always comes to me like an unlucky wife to a poor devil of a husband ...
Page 89
... reason , I am at present attending these instruc- tions , to have them completed before Whit - Sunday . Still , Madam , I prepared with the sincerest pleasure to meet you at the Mount , and came to my brother's on Saturday night , to ...
... reason , I am at present attending these instruc- tions , to have them completed before Whit - Sunday . Still , Madam , I prepared with the sincerest pleasure to meet you at the Mount , and came to my brother's on Saturday night , to ...
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Common terms and phrases
acquaintance AUCHTERTYRE Ayrshire ballad bless brother Burns character charming compliments copy Cunningham dare dear friend dear Madam DEAR SIR delighted devil Dumfries DUNLOP Earl of Glencairn Edinburgh ELLISLAND enjoyment epistle esteem Excise fancy farm father favour favourite feelings fortune friendship GAVIN HAMILTON genius gentleman give Glasgow Gordon Castle hand happy hear heart honest hope House of Stuart humble servant idea inclosed indebted Jenny Geddes JOHN SKINNER kind lady late letter Lord MAUCHLINE merit mind misery Miss muse never night Nithsdale noble obliged perhaps pleasure poem poet Poet's poetic poetry poor present respect rhyme ROBERT AINSLIE Scotch Scotland Scottish Shanter sincere song soul spirits stanzas tell thee thing thou thought tion truly venerable verses week Whit-Sunday WILLIAM DUNBAR wish worth wretch write young
Popular passages
Page 136 - Bagdat, in order to pass the rest of the day in meditation and prayer. As I was here airing myself on the tops of the mountains, I fell into a profound contemplation on the vanity of human life; and passing from one thought to another, Surely, said I, man is but a shadow and life a dream.
Page 38 - Her pure and eloquent blood Spoke in her cheeks, and so distinctly wrought, That one might almost say her body thought.
Page 26 - ... promises, kindly stepped in, and carried him away, to ' where the wicked cease from troubling, and where the weary are at rest.
Page 23 - In my infant and boyish days, too, I owed much to an old woman who resided in the family, remarkable for her ignorance, credulity, and superstition. She had, I suppose, the largest collection in the country of tales and songs concerning devils, ghosts, fairies, brownies, witches, warlocks, spunkies, kelpies, elf-candles, deadlights, wraiths, apparitions, cantraips, giants, enchanted towers, dragons, and other trumpery.
Page 370 - tis nought to me ; Since God is ever present, ever felt, In the void waste as in the city full ; And where He vital breathes, there must be joy.
Page 371 - Far, far aloof th' affrighted ravens sail ; The famish'd eagle screams, and passes by. Dear lost companions of my tuneful art, Dear as the light that visits these sad eyes, Dear as the ruddy drops that warm my heart, Ye died amidst your dying country's cries — No more I weep.
Page 30 - I had seen human nature in a new phasis; and I engaged several of my school-fellows to keep up a literary correspondence with me. This improved me in composition. I had met with a collection of letters by the wits of Queen Anne's reign, and I pored over them most devoutly: I kept copies of any of my own letters that pleased me; and a comparison between them and the composition of most of my correspondents flattered my vanity. I carried this whim so far, that though I had not three farthings...
Page 55 - The stars shall fade away, the sun himself Grow dim with age, and Nature sink in years, But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth, Unhurt amidst the war of elements, The wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds.
Page 230 - Coffins stood round, like open presses; That shaw'd the dead in their last dresses; And by some devilish...
Page 178 - It is the moon — I ken her horn, That's blinkin in the lift sae hie ; She shines sae bright to wyle us hame, But, by my sooth, she'll wait a wee ! Wha first shall rise to gang awa', A cuckold, coward loon is he ! Wha last beside his chair shall fa...