Lines Written After Perusing a Letter
Written by Robert Burns.
Only a scrap of paper, old and worn,1
He wrote one day, when in a mood forlorn ;2
Few are the words, and simply do they stand,3
Yet thrill us—they were written by his hand.4
His hand had penned these words on which we gaze ;5
The hand that gave the ‘ Daisy’ sweetest praise ;6
That held a sting for falsehood, and for pride,7
And dared raise manhood o’er all else beside.8
His eyes looked down upon that faded page—9
The eyes that had the vision of the sage ;10
The eyes that did with wit and laughter glow,11
Yet had a tear of sympathy with woe.12
His heart impelled these kind words to a friend—13
That full, true heart fast throbbing to its end.14
In life neglected, what avails it now,15
That men would wreathe the laurel round his brow ?16
Ah, little dreamed he, as he wrote these lines,17
That hearts would beat, to look upon the signs18
So careless traced one day, in mood forlorn,19
But treasured now, as by the poet born.20