DEAR JOCK, ye're higher up the brae Than me, your aulder brither - Keep mind the higher up ye gae The mair ye're in the weather. I'm no' misdootin' that ye're wice, An', for your ploo-share, speed it! I may better gi'e advice, An' ye may better need it. The higher up the brae ye speel The farrer it's below ye, - Tak' tent ye dinna gi'e the deil Occasion to dounthrow ye. Be douce an' ceevil wi' success, For Fortune's no' to trust aye; Then if your head should tak' the gress Ye're whaur ye were at first aye. An honest fa', wi' conscience clear, It never brak' a bane yet; There's aye the honest course to steer For a' that's come an' gane yet. But letna lucre be your aim, Pursued thro' thick an' thin aye; The honour o' an honest name, That's what you first should win aye For happiness (to God be thanks!) Is no' the gift o' Fortun' Wi' place the limmer plays her pranks, Wi' men like puppets sportin' - Rich folk lookin' idly on At puir folk busy dargin' - But happiness, my brither John, It wasna in the bargain. The ups an' douns o' human life Are like a fairy revel; But a' the warld, an' his wife, Maun lie at ae great level. An' that's a thocht for me an' you When Fate's awards perplex us; In calm eternity's wide view There's little that should vex us. Fate's like the waves aneth the mune, An' we are vessels ridin'; It's doon an' up, an' up an' doon, An' here there's nae abidin'; But on the far horizon's edge, To which we're ever driftin', The changes on oor pilgrimage Are but a paltry shiftin'. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...COLD HANDS WARM HEART by KAREN SWENSON THE GRASSHOPPER; TO MY NOBLE FRIEND MR. CHARLES COTTON by RICHARD LOVELACE THE SIGN OF THE CROSS by JOHN HENRY NEWMAN THE HOUSE OF LIFE: 91. LOST ON BOTH SIDES by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI A MISUNDERSTANDING (CONNEMARA) by JANE BARLOW TO ALEXIS IN ANSWER TO HIS POEM AGAINST FRUITION by APHRA BEHN |