ON BURNS' POEMS
by James Warnock, Sr.
Burns' poems I have perused wi' care-
I've read them ten times ower an' mair,
I find the Author had great share O' ready wit,
He also was a man o' lear and very fit,
To burlesque church an' state and a'
the officers o' civil law
And gie the Doctors, too, a claw when he thinks fit,
And rake the Devils great an ama'
Frae their black pit.
'Tis pity such a genius bright
Should e'er lie hidden out o' sight,
Or rapt in darkness o' the night
Where nae can see
When it aft could bring the truth to light
Wi' sae much ease
Poets hae often brake the league
Which was the first o' base intrigue,
And often times they hae made vague
The plans o' treason
And rid their country o' a plague
The fac to reason
Though Poets seldom layrels gain
Sae long as they on earth remain.
When a' their enemies are gane
An' death does sieze 'em
Their fame their honor will sustain
An' high will heeze 'em,
When they're lain dead for many a year
And a' their enemies disappear-
Their name, their work, their genius clear
Wi' lustre shines
Like Homer, Ovid or Shakespear
Men praise their rymes-.
This Robert Burns ie but a modern
Whose enemies said was not worth foddern
Yet unto them he proved sae boddern
It made him noted
And now among the writing squadron
I find Burns quoted
But lest you sae I am to blame
For writing things that are suplane
Or of my verse might be ashamed
Nae mair I's trouble you
But wi' the initials o' my name
Which is J. W.