SONNET.

WRITTEN JANUARY 25, 1793, THE BIRTH-DAY OF THE

AUTHOR,

On hearing a thrush in a morning walk.

SING on, sweet thrush, upon the leafless bough;
Sing on, sweet bird, I listen to thy strain;
See aged Winter, 'mid his surly reign,
At thy blythe carol clears his furrow'd brow.

So in lone Poverty's dominion drear,

Sits meek Content with light, unanxious heart, Welcomes the rapid moments, bids them part, Nor asks if they bring aught to hope or fear.

I thank thee, Author of this opening day!
Thou whose bright sun now gilds yon orient skies!
Riches denied, thy boon was purer joys,
What wealth could never give nor take away!

Yet come, thou child of Poverty and Care;
The mite high Heaven bestow'd, that mite with thee
I'll share.

VERSES

On seeing a wounded hare limp by me, which a fellow had just shot.

INHUMAN man! curse on thy barbarous art,
And blasted be thy murder-aiming eye:
May never Pity soothe thee with a sigh,
Nor ever Pleasure glad thy cruel heart!

Go, live, poor wanderer of the wood and field,
The bitter little that of life remains:

No more the thickening brakes and verdant plains To thee shall home, or food, or pastime yield.

Seek, mangled wretch, some place of wonted rest-
No more of rest, but now thy dying bed!
The sheltering rushes whistling o'er thy head,
The cold earth with thy bloody bosom press'd.

Oft as by winding Nith I, musing, wait

The sober eve, or hail the cheerful dawn,
I'll miss thee sporting o'er the dewy lawn,

And curse the ruffian's aim, and mourn thy helpless fate.

THE AULD FARMER'S

NEW-YEAR MORNING SALUTATION TO HIS AULD MARE

MAGGIE, ho
(horse)

On giving her the accustomed ripp of corn to hansel in the New-Year.

.2

A GUID new year, I wish thee, Maggie!
Hae there's a ripp' to thy auld baggie;
Tho' thou's howe-backit,3 now, an' knaggie,*
I've seen the day

Thou could hae gaen like onie staggie
Out-owre the lay.

Tho' now thou's dowie, stiff, an' crazy,
An' thy auld hide 's as white's a daisy,
I've seen thee dappled, sleek, and glaizie,”
A bonnie gray:

He should been tight that daur't to raise thee,
Ance in a day.

9

Thou ance was i' the foremost rank,
A filly, buirdly, steeve," an' swank,"
An' set weel down a shapely shank,
As e'er tread yird;12

An' could hae flown out-owre a stank,13
Like onie bird.

It's now some nine-an'-twenty year,
Sin' thou was my guid-father's meere;
He gied me thee, o' tocher1 clear,
An' fifty mark;

Tho' it was sma', 'twas weel won gear,

An' thou was stark.15

9

1 A handful of unthreshed corn.-2 Belly.-3 Sunk in the back.- Like knaggs, or points of rocks.-5 Diminutive of stag.-6 Worn with fatigue.7 Smooth like glass.-8 To inflame, or madden.- Stout made.-10 Firm, compacted.—11 Stately.-12 Earth.-13 A pool of standing water.-14 A marriage portion.-15 Stout.

When first I gaed to woo my Jenny,
Ye then was trottin' wi' your minnie:1
Tho' ye was trickie, slee, an' funnie,
Ye ne'er was donsie ;"
But hamely, tawie, quiet, an' cannie,
An' unco sonsie.1

3

That day ye danced wi' muckle pride,
When ye bure hame my bonnie bride;
An' sweet an' gracefu' she did ride,
Wi' maiden air!

Kyle Stewart I could bragged wide,
For sic a pair.

Tho' now ye dow" but hoyte and hobble,
An' wintle like a saumont-cobble,"
That day ye was a jinker noble,

For heels an' win'!

An' ran them till they a' did wauble,"
Far, far behin'.

When thou an' I were young an' skeigh,"
An' stable-meals at fairs were dreigh,'

13

How thou wad prance, an' snore, an' skreigh,"
An' tak the road!

Town's bodies1 ran and stood abeigh,"

And ca't thee mad.

When thou was corn't," an' I was mellow,
We took the road ay like a swallow:
At Brooses18 thou had ne'er a fellow,
For pith an' speed;

But ev'ry tail thou paid them hollow,
Where'er thou gaed.

The sma', droop-rumpl't," hunter-cattle,
Might aiblins waur't thee for a brattle;

1 Mother, dam.-2 Unlucky.-3 Peaceable to be handled.-4 Good-looking. —5 A district in Aberdeenshire.-6 Challenged.--7 Can.-8 Amble crazily.— 9 Salmon fishing-boat.-10 That turns quickly.-11 To reel.-12 Proud, highmettled.-13 Tedious, long about it.-14 To scream.-15 Town people.-16 At a shy distance.-17 Well fed with oats.

18 A race at country weddings, who shall first reach the bridegroom's house on returning from church.

-20 Perhaps.—21 Worsted.—22 A short

19 That droops at the crupper.-20 Perhaps.

race.