Robert Burns: How To Know Him Part 16

_Bessy and Her Spinnin'-Wheel_ stands by itself as the rendering of the mood of contented solitude, and is further remarkable for its charming verses of natural description. _John Anderson My Jo_ is the cla.s.sical expression of love in age, inimitable in its simplicity and tenderness. The two following poems supply a humorous contrast.

BESSY AND HER SPINNIN'-WHEEL

O leeze me on my spinnin'-wheel, [Blessings on]

O leeze me on my rock and reel; [distaff]

Frae tap to tae that deeds me bien, [top to toe, clothes, comfortably]

And haps me fiel and warm at e'en! [wraps, well]

I'll set me down and sing and spin, While laigh descends the simmer sun, [low]

Blest wi' content, and milk and meal-- O leeze me on my spinnin'-wheel.

On ilka hand the burnies trot, [every, brooklets]

And meet below my theekit cot; [thatched]

The scented birk and hawthorn white [birch]

Across the pool their arms unite, Alike to screen the birdie's nest, And little fishes' caller rest: [cool]

The sun blinks kindly in the biel', [shelter]

Where blythe I turn my spinnin'-wheel.

On lofty aiks the cushats wail, [oaks, pigeons]

And Echo cons the doolfu' tale; [repeats, doleful]

The lintwhites in the hazel braes, [linnets]

Delighted, rival ither's lays: The craik amang the claver hay, [corn-crake, clover]

The paitrick whirrin' o'er the ley. [partridge, meadow]

The swallow jinkin' round my s.h.i.+el, [dodging, cot]

Amuse me at my spinnin'-wheel.

Wi' sma' to sell, and less to buy, Aboon distress, below envy, [Above]

O wha wad leave this humble state, For a' the pride of a' the great?

Amid their flaring, idle toys, Amid their c.u.mbrous, dinsome joys, [noisy]

Can they the peace and pleasure feel Of Bessy at her spinnin'-wheel?

JOHN ANDERSON, MY JO

John Andersen my jo, John, [sweetheart]

When we were first acquent, Your locks were like the raven, Your bonnie brow was brent; [straight]

But now your brow is beld, John, [bald]

Your locks are like the snaw; But blessings on your frosty pow, [head]

John Anderson, my jo.

John Anderson my jo, John, We clamb the hill thegither; And mony a canty day, John, [jolly]

We've had wi' ane anither: Now we maun totter down, John, [must]

And hand in hand we'll go, And sleep thegither at the foot, [together]

John Anderson, my jo.

THE WEARY PUND O' TOW

The weary pund, the weary pund, [pound]

The weary pund o' tow; [yarn]

I think my wife will end her life Before she spin her tow.

I bought my wife a stane o' lint [stone, flax]

As gude as e'er did grow; [good]

And a' that she has made o' that, Is ae poor pund o' tow. [one]

There sat a bottle in a bole, [niche]

Beyond the ingle lowe, [chimney flame]

And aye she took the t.i.ther souk [other suck]

To drouk the stowrie tow. [drench, dusty]

Quoth I, 'For shame, ye dirty dame, Gae spin your tap o' tow!' [bunch]

She took the rock, and wi' a knock [distaff]

She brak it o'er my pow. [pate]

At last her feet--I sang to see't-- Gaed foremost o'er the knowe; [went, hill]

And or I wad anither jad, [ere, wed]

I'll wallop in a tow. [kick, rope]

O MERRY HAE I BEEN

O, merry hae I been teethin' a heckle, [huckling-comb]

An' merry hae I been shapin' a spoon; O, merry hae I been cloutin' a kettle, [patching]

An' kissin' my Katie when a' was done, O, a' the lang day I ca' at my hammer, [knock with]

An' a' the lang day I whistle and sing, O, a' the lang night I cuddle my kimmer, [mistress]

An' a' the lang night am as happy's a king.

Bitter in dool I lickit my winnins [sorrow, earnings]

O' marrying Bess, to gie her a slave: Bless'd be the hour she cool'd in her linens, [shroud]

And blythe be the bird that sings on her grave.

Come to my arms, my Katie, my Katie, An' come to my arms, an' kiss me again!

Drucken or sober, here's to thee, Katie!

And bless'd be the day I did it again.

_Had I the Wyte_ is, we may hope, also purely imaginative drama; it is certainly vividly imagined and carried through with a delightful mixture of sympathy and humorous detachment.

HAD I THE WYTE?

Had I the wyte, had I the wyte, [blame]

Had I the wyte? she bade me!

She watch'd me by the hie-gate side, [highroad]

And up the loan she shaw'd me; [lane]

And when I wadna venture in, A coward loon she ca'd me: [rascal]

Had kirk and state been in the gate, [way (opposing)]

I lighted when she bade me.

Sae craftilie she took me ben, [in]