VERSES TO A YOUNG LADY, WITH A PRESENT OF SONGS.1 IN July, 1794, Burns told Thomson, "I have presented a copy of your songs to the daughter of a much-valued and much-honoured friend of mine, Mr. Graham, of Fintry. I wrote, on the blank side of the title-page, the following address to the young lady:" ERE, where the Scottish Muse immortal lives, In sacred strains and tuneful2 num- Accept the gift; tho' humble he who gives, So may no ruffian-feeling in thy breast Or Pity's notes, in luxury of tears, As modest Want the tale of woe3 reveals; While conscious Virtue all the strain endears, And heaven-born Piety her sanction seals! VAR. his poems. 3 secret tale. 2 strains divine and sacred. 10 POEM ON PASTORAL POETRY.* AIL, Poesie! thou Nymph reserv'd! Frae common sense, or sunk enerv'd And och o'er aft thy joes hae starv'd, Say, Lassie, why thy train amang, To death or marriage; Scarce ane has tried the shepherd-sang In Homer's craft Jock Milton thrives; In thy sweet sang, Barbauld, survives 10 * Gilbert Burns says, that though this Poem was found by Dr. Currie among Burns' papers, and in his writing, there is some doubt whether he was the author. Mr. Allan Cunningham thinks that the second verse alone would go far to remove all doubts: "the lines too which characterize the Pastorals of Pope, and the concluding stanza of the Poem, bear," he says, "the Burns' stamp, which no one has been successful in counterfeiting." But thee, Theocritus, wha matches? I pass by hunders, nameless wretches, In this braw age o' wit and lear, Will nane the Shepherd's whistle mair And rural grace; And wi' the far-fam'd Grecian share A rival place? Yes! there is ane; a Scottish callan- A chiel sae clever; The teeth o' Time may gnaw Tantallan, But thou's for ever! Thou paints auld nature to the nines, Nae gowden stream thro' myrtles twines, Where Philomel, While nightly breezes sweep the vines, Her griefs will tell! In gowany glens thy burnie strays, Wi' hawthorns gray, Where blackbirds join the shepherd's lays At close o' day. Thy rural loves are nature's sel'; That charm that can the strongest quell, WRITTEN ON THE BLANK LEAF OF THE IS Friendship's pledge, my young, fair Nor thou the gift refuse, The moralizing muse. About May or June, 1795, Burns sent the following verses to Mr. Thomson with this description of them: "Written on the blank leaf of a copy of the last edition [i. e. 1794,] of my poems, presented to the lady, whom, in so many fictitious reveries of passion, but with the most ardent sentiments of real friendship, I have so often sung under the name of Chloris." The lady in question was Miss Jean Lorimer, of Craigieburn Wood, near Moffat, whose history was unfortunate. She married an officer called Whelpdale, but in consequence of his misconduct, lived with him only a few months. After her separation she resided at Dumfries, where the Poet often met her; and she seems to have inspired him with admiration and esteem. He has touchingly adverted to her misfortunes in these verses. Since thou, in all thy youth and charms, (A world 'gainst peace in constant arms) Since, thy gay morn of life o'ercast, (And ne'er misfortune's eastern blast Since life's gay scenes must charm no more, Still nobler wealth hast thou in store- Thine is the self-approving glow, Thine friendship's truest heart. The joys refin'd of sense and taste, 10 20 |