Noo lyart leaves blaw ower the green, Reid are the bonny woods o' Dean, An' here we're back in Embro, frien', To pass the winter. Whilk noo, wi' frosts afore, draws in, An' snaws ahint her. I've seen 's hae days to fricht us a', The Pentlands poothered weel wi' snaw, The ways half smoored wi' liquid thaw An' half congealin', The snell an' scowtherin' northern blaw Frae blae Brunteelan.' I've seen 's been unco sweir to sally And at the door-cheeks daff an' dally -- Seen 's daidle thus an' shilly-shally For near a minute -- Sae cauld the wind blew up the valley, The deil was in it! -- Syne spread the silk an' tak the gate, In blast an' blaudin' rain, deil hae 't! The hale toon glintin', stane an' slate, Wi' cauld an' weet, An' to the Court, gin we 'se be late, Bicker oor feet. And at the Court, tae, aft I saw Whaur Advocates by twa an' twa Gang gesterin' end to end the ha' In weeg an' goon, To crack o' what ye wull but Law The hale forenoon. That muckle ha', maist like a kirk, I've kent at braid mid-day sae mirk Ye'd seen white weegs an' faces lurk Like ghaists frae Hell, But whether Christian ghaists or Turk Deil ane could tell. The three fires lunted in the gloom, The wind blew like the blast o' doom, The rain upo' the roof abune Played Peter Dick -- Ye wad nae'd licht enough i' the room Your teeth to pick! But, freend, ye ken how me an' you, The ling-lang lanely winter through, Keep'd a guid speerit up, an' true To lore Horatian, We aye the ither bottle drew -- To inclination. Sae let us in the comin' days Stand sicker on oor auncient ways -- The strauchtest road in a' the maze Since Eve ate apples; An' let the winter weet oor cla'es -- We'll weet oor thrapples. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AUCTION: ANDERSON GALLERIES by LOUIS UNTERMEYER NIGHTMARE, FR. IOLANTHE by WILLIAM SCHWENCK GILBERT ON A FLOWER FROM THE FIELD OF GRUTLI by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS GEORGE WASHINGTON by JOHN HALL INGHAM LADY CLARA VERE DE VERE by ALFRED TENNYSON KEEPING ENDLESS HOLIDAY by TITUS PETRONIUS NIGER |