Section: «Poems»

Verse (ancient Greek ὁ στίχος — row, structure), a term in versification used in several meanings: artistic speech organized by division into rhythmically commensurate segments; poetry in the narrow sense; in particular, it implies the properties of versification of a particular tradition ("antique verse", "Akhmatova's verse", etc.); a line of poetic text organized according to a certain rhythmic pattern ("My uncle of the most honest rules").

Elegy On The Death Of Sir James Hunter Blair

THE LAMP of day, with-ill presaging glare,Dim, cloudy, sank beneath the western wave;Th' inconstant blast howl'd thro' the dark'ning air,And hollow..

© Robert Burns

Epitaph On A Noted Coxcomb

LIGHT lay the earth on Billy's breast,His chicken heart so tender;But build a castle on his head,His scull will prop it under.

© Robert Burns

The Rantin Dog, The Daddie O'T

O WHA my babie-clouts will buy?O wha will tent me when I cry?Wha will kiss me where I lie?The rantin' dog, the daddie o't.O wha will own he did the..

© Robert Burns

Song—raging Fortune: A Fragment

O RAGING Fortune's withering blastHas laid my leaf full low, O!O raging Fortune's withering blastHas laid my leaf full low, O!My stem was fair, my..

© Robert Burns

Epigram On Miss Fontenelle

SWEET naïveté of feature,Simple, wild, enchanting elf,Not to thee, but thanks to Nature,Thou art acting but thyself.Wert thou awkward, stiff..

© Robert Burns

Lines On The Fall Of Fyers

AMONG the heathy hills and ragged woodsThe roaring Fyers pours his mossy floods;Till full he dashes on the rocky mounds,Where, thro' a shapeless..

© Robert Burns

Song—poortith Cauld And Restless Love

O POORTITH cauld, and restless love,Ye wrack my peace between ye;Yet poortith a' I could forgive,An 'twere na for my Jeanie.Chorus.—O why should Fate..

© Robert Burns

Lines To John M'Murdo Of Drumlanrig

O COULD I give thee India's wealth,As I this trifle send;Because thy joy in both would beTo share them with a friend.But golden sands did never..

© Robert Burns

Epistle On J. Lapraik

WHILE briers an' woodbines budding green,An' paitricks scraichin loud at e'en,An' morning poussie whiddin seen,Inspire my muse,This freedom, in an..

© Robert Burns

Epitaph On A Noisy Polemic

BELOW thir stanes lie Jamie's banes;O Death, it's my opinion,Thou ne'er took such a bleth'rin bitchInto thy dark dominion!

© Robert Burns

Burlesque Lament Fo Wm. Creech's Absence

AULD chuckie Reekie's 1 sair distrest,Down droops her ance weel burnish'd crest,Nae joy her bonie buskit nestCan yield ava,Her darling bird that she..

© Robert Burns

Song—the Dumfries Volunteers

DOES haughty Gaul invasion threat?Then let the louns beware, Sir;There's wooden walls upon our seas,And volunteers on shore, Sir:The Nith shall run..

© Robert Burns

Mr. William Smellie: A Sketch

SHREWD Willie Smellie to Crochallan came;The old cock'd hat, the grey surtout the same;His bristling beard just rising in its might,'Twas four long..

© Robert Burns

Song—the Charms Of Lovely Davies

O HOW shall I, unskilfu', tryThe poet's occupation?The tunefu' powers, in happy hours,That whisper inspiration;Even they maun dare an effort mairThan..

© Robert Burns

Epistle To James Tennant Of Glenconner

AULD comrade dear, and brither sinner,How's a' the folk about Glenconner?How do you this blae eastlin wind,That's like to blaw a body blind?For me..

© Robert Burns

Song—fragment—leezie Lindsay

WILL ye go to the Hielands, Leezie Lindsay,Will ye go to the Hielands wi' me?Will ye go to the Hielands, Leezie Lindsay,My pride and my darling to be.

© Robert Burns

Song—gudewife, Count The Lawin

GANE is the day, and mirk's the night,But we'll ne'er stray for faut o' light;Gude ale and bratdy's stars and moon,And blue-red wine's the risin'..

© Robert Burns

Epistle To Major Logan

HAIL, thairm-inspirin', rattlin' Willie!Tho' fortune's road be rough an' hillyTo every fiddling, rhyming billie,We never heed,But take it like the..

© Robert Burns

Song—behold The Hour, Etc. (Second Version)

BEHOLD the hour, the boat arrive;Thou goest, the darling of my heart;Sever'd from thee, can I survive,But Fate has will'd and we must part.I'll often..

© Robert Burns

Lines Of John M'Murdo, Esq.

BLEST be M'Murdo to his latest day!No envious cloud o'ercast his evening ray;No wrinkle, furrow'd by the hand of care,Nor ever sorrow add one silver..

© Robert Burns

Epitaph On John Busby, Esq., Tinwald Downs

HERE lies John Bushby—honest man,Cheat him, Devil—if you can!

© Robert Burns

The Libeller's Self-Reproof

RASH 1 mortal, and slanderous poet, thy nameShall no longer appear in the records of Fame;Dost not know that old Mansfield, who writes like the..

© Robert Burns

Inscription On Mr. Syme's Crystal Goblet

THERE'S Death in the cup, so beware!Nay, more—there is danger in touching;But who can avoid the fell snare,The man and his wine's so bewitching!

© Robert Burns

Elegy On The Year 1788

FOR lords or kings I dinna mourn,E'en let them die-for that they're born:But oh! prodigious to reflec'!A Towmont, sirs, is gane to wreck!O..

© Robert Burns

Song—my Hoggie

WHAT will I do gin my Hoggie die?My joy, my pride, my Hoggie!My only beast, I had nae mae,And vow but I was vogie!The lee-lang night we watch'd the..

© Robert Burns