154. Lines Inscribed under Fergusson’s Portrait. Burns, Robert. 1909-14. Poems and Songs. The Harvard Classics

Robert Burns (1759–1796). Poems and Songs.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14.

154. Lines Inscribed under Fergusson’s Portrait


CURSE on ungrateful man, that can be pleased,
And yet can starve the author of the pleasure.
O thou, my elder brother in misfortune,
By far my elder brother in the Muses,
With tears I pity thy unhappy fate!	5
Why is the Bard unpitied by the world,
Yet has so keen a relish of its pleasures?