Poems and Songs of Robert Burns

Chapter 402: Extempore On Some Commemorations Of Thomson

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About This Book

The collection assembles lyrical songs, narrative poems, satirical pieces, epistles, epitaphs, and fragments that shift between convivial drinking verses, tender laments, and comic storytelling. Many lyrics were shaped to traditional airs and preserve vernacular speech, while longer works portray rural labor, domestic scenes, and compassionate encounters with animals. Satire targets religious hypocrisy and social pretension, and several poems take a direct, personal tone of moral reflection or affectionate address. The selections alternate moods and forms, emphasizing melodic phrasing and a versatile technical range.

Extempore On Some Commemorations Of Thomson

Dost thou not rise, indignant shade, And smile wi’ spurning scorn, When they wha wad hae starved thy life, Thy senseless turf adorn? Helpless, alane, thou clamb the brae, Wi’ meikle honest toil, And claught th’ unfading garland there— Thy sair-worn, rightful spoil. And wear it thou! and call aloud This axiom undoubted— Would thou hae Nobles’ patronage? First learn to live without it! To whom hae much, more shall be given, Is every Great man’s faith; But he, the helpless, needful wretch, Shall lose the mite he hath.