Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ELEGY, ON THE DEATH OF MR DAVID GREGORY, LATE PROFESSOR OF ST ANDREWS, by ROBERT FERGUSSON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ELEGY, ON THE DEATH OF MR DAVID GREGORY, LATE PROFESSOR OF ST ANDREWS, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Now mourn, ye college masters a'! / and frae your een a tear lat fa
Last Line: As sound's a tap.
Alternate Author Name(s): Ferguson, Robert
Subject(s): Lament


Now mourn, ye college masters a'!
And frae your een a tear lat fa,
Fam'd Gregory death has taen awa
Without remeid;
The skaith ye've met wi's nae that sma,
Sin Gregory's deid.

The students too will miss him sair,
To school them weel his eident care,
Now they may mourn for ever mair,
They hae great need;
They'll hip the maist feck o' their lear,
Sin Gregory's deid.

He could, by Euclid, prove lang syne
A ganging point compos'd a line;
By numbers too he could divine,
Whan he did read,
That three times three just made up nine;
But now he's deid.

In Algebra weel skill'd he was,
An' kent fu weel proportion's laws;
He could make clear baith B's and A's
Wi his lang heid;
Rin owr surd roots, but cracks or flaws;
But now he's deid.

Weel vers'd was he in architecture,
An' kent the nature o' the sector,
Upon baith globes he weel could lecture,
An' gar's tak heed;
Of geometry he was the Hector;
But now he's deid.

Sae weel's he'd fley the students a',
Whan they war skelpin at the ba,
They took leg bail and ran awa,
Wi pith and speed;
We winna get a sport sae braw
Sin Gregory's deid.

Great 'casion hae we a' to weep,
An' cleed our skins in mourning deep,
For Gregory death will fairly keep
To take his nap;
He'll till the resurrection sleep
As sound's a tap.





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