Robert Burns (1759–1796). Poems and Songs.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14.
227 . Verses on Friars Carse Hermitage (First Version)
T
Be thou clad in russet weed,
Be thou deckt in silken stole,
Grave these maxims on thy soul.
Sprung from night, in darkness lost: Hope not sunshine every hour, Fear not clouds will always lour. Make content and ease thy aim, Ambition is a meteor-gleam; Fame, an idle restless dream; Pleasures, insects on the wing; Those that sip the dew alone— Make the butterflies thy own; Those that would the bloom devour— Crush the locusts, save the flower. Guard wherever thou can’st guard; But thy utmost duly done, Welcome what thou can’st not shun. Follies past, give thou to air, Make their consequence thy care: Keep the name of Man in mind, And dishonour not thy kind. Reverence with lowly heart Him, whose wondrous work thou art; Keep His Goodness still in view, Thy trust, and thy example, too. Quod the Beadsman of Nidside.