Page:Verses to the memory of Robert Burns.pdf/4



See where the pledges sweet of mutual love

Are left in pinching penury to pine:

O! if ye hope sweet mercy from above,

Let mercy sweet, to gen'rous deeds incline.

A widow's woes, a mother's tears revere,

And helpless babes, their father now no more:

The fight of these, alas! belov'd and dear,

His dying breast with bitter anguish tore.

His Jeanie's woes, his helpless babes forlorn,

The prospect dire of penury and want,

The insolent contempt, the haughty scorn,

The look disdainful, and the bitter taunt.

These, from th' unfeeling never cease to fall

With all their weight upon the wretched head;

This well he knew:— the thought that heart appall'd

That smil'd in pain descending to the dead.

O ! may his shade revisit oft with joy

These scenes which once to rapture rais'd his mind:-

To glad his shade, your friendly aid employ,

To succour those he to your care consign'd.

When just about to bid this world adieu,—

His last advice still rings upon my ear,

"These dying words, I now impart to you,

"O! might the world with due attention hear.

"In sprightly youth of syren vice beware:

"Learn from my fate the helpless lot of man;

"With caution learn to shun each gilded snare;

"O'erlook my faults, and all my beauties scan."