NEVER tread on the heels o' anither, But stan' in your ain leather shoon, An' if earth canna gie ye eneuch, Then resort to the stars and the mune. There's the rain, an' the snaw, an' the thunder, An' the clouds that flee drearily by; There's the wind that whisks by like a spirit, An' then there's the bonnie blue sky. In the meantime I'll tak a bit peep O' the glen near my auld mither's dwellin', O'er the lea wi' the sheep and the kye -- By the wud whare the timmer's a-fellin'. I will join in the sang o' the birds, An' pu' the wild flowers for my dearie -- The hawthorn an' bonnie blue bells -- For 'tis Summer, an' Nature is cheery. I will twine roun' the stem o' the rose A frill wi' the red-tipped gowan, An' the heather entwine wi' a string O' the fruit frae the tree o' the rowan. Enchanted I'll stan' on the rock An' watch the wild freaks o' the fountain, An' list to the cry o' the deer As it bounds o'er the heath o' the mountain. I will gaze on the dark pool below When the sun in the west is declining, An' the trout frae his bed upward springs, While the moon's through the trees dimly shining. But it's whispered that fairies an' witches In the glen after gloamin' appear; Sae I'll aff to my ain wifie's ingle, For when there I hae naething to fear. Then I'll muse on the fair book o' Nature -- Recreation that never brings sorrow, An' will ne'er let the joys o' the nicht Be the cause o' a pang on the morrow. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SUMMER SHIRT SALE by CARL SANDBURG RESCUE by JEAN STARR UNTERMEYER ONLY OF THEE AND ME by LOUIS UNTERMEYER BEPPO: A VENETIAN STORY by GEORGE GORDON BYRON TO SCIENCE; SONNET by EDGAR ALLAN POE THE KLONDIKE by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 20. AL-'ALIM by EDWIN ARNOLD |