FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   190   191   192   193   194   195   196   197   198   199   200   201   202   203   204   205   206   207   208   209   210   211   212   213   214  
215   216   217   218   219   220   221   222   223   224   225   226   227   228   229   230   231   232   233   234   235   236   237   238   239   >>   >|  
the lov'd tender fair, The those whose bliss, whose beings hang upon him, To helpless children! then, O then! he feels The point of misery fest'ring in his heart, And weakly weeps his fortune like a coward. Such, such am I! undone." THOMSON. [In these serious stanzas, where the comic, as in the lines to the Scottish bard, are not permitted to mingle, Burns bids farewell to all on whom his heart had any claim. He seems to have looked on the sea as only a place of peril, and on the West Indies as a charnel-house.] I. Farewell, old Scotia's bleak domains, Far dearer than the torrid plains Where rich ananas blow! Farewell, a mother's blessing dear! A brother's sigh! a sister's tear! My Jean's heart-rending throe! Farewell, my Bess! tho' thou'rt bereft Of my parental care, A faithful brother I have left, My part in him thou'lt share! Adieu too, to you too, My Smith, my bosom frien'; When kindly you mind me, O then befriend my Jean! II. What bursting anguish tears my heart! From thee, my Jeany, must I part! Thou weeping answ'rest--"No!" Alas! misfortune stares my face, And points to ruin and disgrace, I for thy sake must go! Thee, Hamilton, and Aiken dear, A grateful, warm adieu; I, with a much-indebted tear, Shall still remember you! All-hail then, the gale then, Wafts me from thee, dear shore! It rustles, and whistles I'll never see thee more! * * * * * LII. WRITTEN ON THE BLANK LEAF OF A COPY OF MY POEMS, PRESENTED TO AN OLD SWEETHEART, THEN MARRIED. [This is another of the poet's lamentations, at the prospect of "torrid climes" and the roars of the Atlantic. To Burns, Scotland was the land of promise, the west of Scotland his paradise; and the land of dread, Jamaica! I found these lines copied by the poet into a volume which he presented to Dr. Geddes: they were addressed, it is thought, to the "Dear E." of his earliest correspondence.] Once fondly lov'd and still remember'd dear; Sweet early object of my youthful vows! Accept this mark of friendship, warm, sincere,-- Friendship! 'tis all cold duty now allows. And when you read the simple artless rhymes, One friendly sigh for him--he asks no more,-- Who distant burns
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   190   191   192   193   194   195   196   197   198   199   200   201   202   203   204   205   206   207   208   209   210   211   212   213   214  
215   216   217   218   219   220   221   222   223   224   225   226   227   228   229   230   231   232   233   234   235   236   237   238   239   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

Farewell

 

remember

 

Scotland

 
brother
 

torrid

 
PRESENTED
 

SWEETHEART

 

MARRIED

 

indebted

 

Hamilton


grateful

 

WRITTEN

 

rustles

 

whistles

 

friendship

 
sincere
 

Friendship

 

Accept

 
fondly
 

object


youthful

 

friendly

 

distant

 

rhymes

 

simple

 

artless

 

correspondence

 
paradise
 

Jamaica

 

copied


promise
 

prospect

 
climes
 

Atlantic

 

addressed

 

thought

 
earliest
 

volume

 

presented

 

Geddes


lamentations

 

mingle

 

farewell

 

permitted

 
Scottish
 

Indies

 

charnel

 
looked
 

stanzas

 

children