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To a Louse, On Seeing one on a Lady's Bonnet at Church
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User Rating:
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6.0
/10
(28 votes)
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Ha! whare ye gaun, ye crowlan 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, creepan, 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;
Whare 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, towrin height
O' Miss's bonnet.
My sooth! right bauld ye set your nose out,
As plump an' grey as onie grozet:
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 surpriz'd to spy
You on an auld wife's flainen toy;
Or aiblins some bit duddie boy,
On's wylecoat;
But Miss's fine Lunardi, fye!
How daur ye do't?
O Jenny, dinna toss your head,
An' set your beauties a' abread!
Ye little ken what cursed speed
The blastie's makin!
Thae winks and finger-ends, I dread,
Are notice takin!
O wad some Pow'r 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,
And ev'n Devotion!
Robert Burns
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Friday, January 03, 2003 |
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Read poems about / on: faith, red, fear
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Comments about this poem (To a Louse, On Seeing one on a Lady's Bonnet at Church
by
Robert Burns
) |
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Sidi Mahtrow (8/22/2011 1:55:00 PM)
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In a four line poem, The Toadeater, Burns added the following thought:
Lord! a louse, Sir, is still but a louse,
Though it crawl on the curls of a queen.
pp 9 in additional poems. The Works of Robert Burns; with an account of his life and Critticism on his Writings, by James Currie. Philadelphia, Crissy & Markley, No.4. Minor Street,1948.
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Nicholas Skarvelis (12/22/2005 8:46:00 AM)
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I am looking for the lyrics to the poem by Robert Burns for
'TO A LOUSE', NOT,
'TO A LOUSE, ON SEEING ONE OF A LADY'S BONNET IN CHURCH'
In particular the eight verse which reads as,
'O would some power the giftie gie us to see ourselves as others see us'
Thank you for your kind assistance
Nicholas T.K. Skarvelis
Veritasusa@juno.com.
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