Poems and Songs of Robert Burns

Chapter 49: Reply To An Announcement By J. Rankine On His Writing To The Poet,

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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.

Reply To An Announcement By J. Rankine On His Writing To The Poet,

That A Girl In That Part Of The Country Was With A Child To Him.

I am a keeper of the law In some sma’ points, altho’ not a’; Some people tell me gin I fa’, Ae way or ither, The breaking of ae point, tho’ sma’, Breaks a’ thegither. I hae been in for’t ance or twice, And winna say o’er far for thrice; Yet never met wi’ that surprise That broke my rest; But now a rumour’s like to rise— A whaup’s i’ the nest!