Robert Burns (17591796). Poems and Songs. The Harvard Classics. 190914. |
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311. On the Birth of a Posthumous Child |
| | Born in peculiar circumstances of family distress. |
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SWEET flowret, pledge o meikle love, | |
And ward o mony a prayer, | |
What heart o stane wad thou na move, | |
Sae helpless, sweet, and fair? | |
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November hirples oer the lea, | 5 |
Chill, on thy lovely form: | |
And gane, alas! the sheltring tree, | |
Should shield thee frae the storm. | |
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May He who gives the rain to pour, | |
And wings the blast to blaw, | 10 |
Protect thee frae the driving showr, | |
The bitter frost and snaw. | |
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May He, the friend o Woe and Want, | |
Who heals lifes various stounds, | |
Protect and guard the mother plant, | 15 |
And heal her cruel wounds. | |
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But late she flourishd, rooted fast, | |
Fair in the summer morn, | |
Now feebly bends she in the blast, | |
Unshelterd and forlorn. | 20 |
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Blest be thy bloom, thou lovely gem, | |
Unscathd by ruffian hand! | |
And from thee many a parent stem | |
Arise to deck our land! | |
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