II. TO A MOUNTAIN DAISY. ON TURNING ONE DOWN WITH THE PLOUGH, IN APRIL, 1786. 1. Wee, modest, crimson-tippéd flow'r, For I maun crush amang the stoure To spare thee now is past my power, 2. Alas! it's no thy neebor sweet, When upward springing, blythe to greet 3. Cauld blew the bitter-biting north Yet cheerfully thou glinted forth Scarce reared above the parent earth 4. The flaunting flowers our gardens yield, High sheltering woods an' wa's maun shield; 5 10 15 20 25 Thou lifts thy unassuming head But now the share uptears thy bed, 6. Such is the fate of artless maid, And guileless trust, Till she, like thee, all soiled, is laid 7. Such is the fate of simple bard, On life's rough ocean luckless starred! Of prudent lore, Till billows rage, and gales blow hard, 8. Such fate to suffering worth is given, Who long with wants and woes has striven, To misery's brink, Till, wrenched of every stay but Heaven, 9. Even thou who mourn'st the Daisy's fate, Till crushed beneath the furrow's weight, 27 lifts= lift'st. 39. card, compass. III. FOR A' THAT, AND A' THAT. 1. Is there for honest poverty That hangs his head, and a' that? Our toils obscure, and a' that; 2. What though on hamely fare we dine, Gie folks their silks, and knaves their wine, For a' that, and a' that, Their tinsel show, and a' that; The honest man, though e'er sae poor, 5 10 15 20 25 |