PoemsJohn Wilson, 1789 - 247 pages |
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Common terms and phrases
aften againſt Altho Amang anither auld baith Beltan beſt birr breaſt canna caufe cou'd curfe Damon dinna ev'ry faid fair fame fatire fear fenfe fhou'd ficcan filly fing fock folly fome fooliſh for't fpirit frae frien friendſhip ftan ftill fuch fure fweet gade gaet gane gies gude H-ll honeft ilka Irvine ither Jock juft juſt kintra laffes Lallan maift mair maiſt maun Mufe muſt naething nane ne'er never night OVID owre paffions pafs paſt pleaſe pleaſure Pluto pow'r praiſe prefent reafon reft rhyme ſkill ſtate Sufy tane thefe There's theſe thing thoſe thou thro truth Twill unco warft wark weel Whafe whiſky whyles wife wrang ye hae ye'll ye're younker yourfell
Popular passages
Page 37 - Or ounce, or tiger, hog, or bearded goat, All other parts remaining as they were ; And they (so perfect is their misery) Not once perceive their foul disfigurement, But boast themselves more comely than before, And all their friends and native home forget, To roll with pleasure in a sensual sty.
Page 14 - Sae judge how I hae it employ'd. I ne'er depended for my knowledge On school, academy, nor college : I gat my learnin' at the flail, An' some I catch'd at the plough-tail.
Page 41 - An' there's the foe : He has na thought but how to kill Twa at a blow." There is surely much in the little, that all he wants in the future life, is "A Highland Welcome." One of his " Twa Dogs " is called— " After a dog in Highland sang, Was made lang syne—Lord knows how lang.
Page 17 - ... bleeds at thoughts of parting; For part they must ; body and soul must part ; Fond couple ! link'd more close than wedded pair. This wings its way to its Almighty Source, The witness of its actions, now its Judge; That drops into the dark and noisome Grave, Like a disabled pitcher of no use. If death was nothing, and nought after death; If when men dy'd, at once they ceas'd to be, Returning to the barren womb of nothing, Whence...
Page 38 - Hail! callor burn;! chief o' Scots drink ! To purchase thee we need nae clink: Just lout out owre a burny's brink, An' tak' our fill ; 'Twill neither mak us glowr nor wink, Like whisky gill.
Page 17 - Reel over his full bowl, and when 'tis drain'd Fill up another to the brim, and laugh At the poor bugbear Death ; then might the wretch That's weary of the world, and tir'd of life, At once give each inquietude the slip, By stealing out of being when he pleas'd, And by what way, whether by hemp or steel : — Death's thousand doors stand open.
Page 139 - Sire fupreme addreft, jtgyfthus' fate revolving in his breaft, Whom young' Oreftes to the dreary coaft O/ Plato fcnt, a blood-polluted ghoft.J Pcrverfe mankind ! whofe wills, created free, Charge all their woes on abfolute decree ; All to the dooming Gods their guilt tranflate, And follies are mifcall'd the crimes of fate. When to his luft yEgyfthus gave the rein. Did fate, or we, th...
Page 11 - Leeze me on rhyme ! it's ay a treafure, My chief, amaift my only pleafure ; At hame, a-fiel, at wark or leifure, The Mufe, poor hizzie ! Tho' rough an' raploch be her meafure, She's feldom lazy.
Page 5 - Natural genins alone is sufficient to constitute a poet : for the imperfections in the works of many poetical writers, which are ascribed to want of education, may, he believes, with more justice be ascribed to want of genius. He leaves every person to judge of his by his writings. The following pieces were composed just as the objects they treat of struck his imagination ; and, if they give others the same pleasure in reading...
Page 14 - I ne'er depended for my knowledge On school, academy, nor college; I gat my learnin' at the flail, An' some I catch'd at the plough-tail ; Amang the brutes I own I'm bred, Since herding was my native trade. Some twa-three books I read wi' care, Which I had barrow'd here an