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To a Louse, On Seeing one on a Lady's Bonnet at Church by Robert Burns   
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Robert Burns
Robert Burns (1759-1796 / Ayrshire / Scotland)
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Burns, sometimes known as the 'ploughman poet', was the eldest son of a poverty-stricken farmer. Though his father had moved to Ayrshire, where Burns .. more >>
138 poems of Robert Burns
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To a Louse, On Seeing one on a Lady's Bonnet at Church

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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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  Comments about this poem (To a Louse, On Seeing one on a Lady's Bonnet at Church by Robert Burns )
Click here to write your comments about this poem (To a Louse, On Seeing one on a Lady's Bonnet at Church by Robert Burns )
 
  Nicholas Skarvelis  (12/22/2005 8:46:00 AM)

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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11/27/2009 11:39:09 PM. #.34# You Are Here: To a Louse, On Seeing one on a Lady's Bonnet at Church by Robert Burns

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