Sent to a Gentleman whom he bad offended. THE friend whom wild from wisdom's way, (Not moony madness more astray) Mine was th' insensate frenzied part, POEM POEM ON LIFE, Addressed to Colonel De Peyster, Dumfries, 1796. MY honored colonel, deep I feel The steep Parnassus, Surrounded thus by bolus pill, And potion glasses. O what a canty warld were it, Would pain and care, and sickness spare And fortune favor worth and merit, As they deserve : (And aye a rowth, roast beef and claret ; it; Syne wha would starve ?) Dame Dame life, tho' fiction out may trick her, I've found her still, Ay wavering like the willow wicker, 'Tween good and ill. Then that curst carmagnole auld Satan, Wi' felon ire; Syne, whip! his tail ye'll ne'er cast saut on, Ah! Nick, ah Nick it is na fair, Syne weave, unseen, thy spider snare O' hell's damned waft. Poor man the flie, aft bizzes bye, And hellish pleasure; Already in thy fancy's eye, Thy sicker treasure. Soon Soon heels o'er gowdie! in he gangs, And murdering wrestle, As dangling in the wind he hangs A gibbet's tassel. But lest you think I am uncivil, To plague you with this draunting drivel, I quat my pen: The Lord preserve us frae the devil ! Amen amen ! ADDRESS ADDRESS то THE TOOTH-ACHE. MY curse upon your venom'd stang, When fevers burn, or ague freezes, But thee-thou hell o' a' diseases, Ay mocks our groan! Adown my beard the slavers trickle! While raving mad, I wish a heckle Were in their doup. VOL. IV. Dd O' a' |