"Yet, all beneath th" unrivall"d rose, T e lowly daisy sweetly blows; Tho" large the forest"s monarch throws His army shade, Yet green the juicy hawthorn grows, Adown the glade.
"Then never murmur nor repine; Strive in thy humble sphere to shine; And trust me, not Potosi"s mine, Nor king"s regard, Can give a bliss o"ermatching thine, A rustic bard.
"To give my counsels all in one, Thy tuneful flame still careful fan: Preserve the dignity of Man, With soul erect; And trust the Universal Plan Will all protect.
"And wear thou this"--she solemn said, And bound the holly round my head: The polish"d leaves and berries red Did rustling play; And, like a pa.s.sing thought, she fled In light away.
[To Mrs. Stewart of Stair, Burns presented a ma.n.u.script copy of the Vision. That copy embraces about twenty stanzas at the end of Duan First, which he cancelled when he came to print the price in his Kilmarnock volume. Seven of these he restored in printing his second edition, as noted on p. 174. The following are the verses which he left unpublished.]
Suppressed Stanza"s Of "The Vision"
After 18th stanza of the text (at "His native land"):--
With secret throes I marked that earth, That cottage, witness of my birth; And near I saw, bold issuing forth In youthful pride, A Lindsay race of n.o.ble worth, Famed far and wide.
Where, hid behind a spreading wood, An ancient Pict-built mansion stood, I spied, among an angel brood, A female pair; Sweet shone their high maternal blood, And father"s air.^1
An ancient tower^2 to memory brought How Dettingen"s bold hero fought; Still, far from sinking into nought, It owns a lord Who far in western climates fought, With trusty sword.
[Footnote 1: Sundrum.--R.B.]
[Footnote 2: Stair.--R.B.]
Among the rest I well could spy One gallant, graceful, martial boy, The soldier sparkled in his eye, A diamond water.
I blest that n.o.ble badge with joy, That owned me frater.^3
After 20th stanza of the text (at "Dispensing good"):--
Near by arose a mansion fine^4 The seat of many a muse divine; Not rustic muses such as mine, With holly crown"d, But th" ancient, tuneful, laurell"d Nine, From cla.s.sic ground.
I mourn"d the card that Fortune dealt, To see where bonie Whitefoords dwelt;^5 But other prospects made me melt, That village near;^6 There Nature, Friendship, Love, I felt, Fond-mingling, dear!
Hail! Nature"s pang, more strong than death!
Warm Friendship"s glow, like kindling wrath!
Love, dearer than the parting breath Of dying friend!
Not ev"n with life"s wild devious path, Your force shall end!
The Power that gave the soft alarms In blooming Whitefoord"s rosy charms, Still threats the tiny, feather"d arms, The barbed dart, While lovely Wilhelmina warms The coldest heart.^7
After 21st stanza of the text (at "That, to adore"):--
Where Lugar leaves his moorland plaid,^8 Where lately Want was idly laid,
[Footnote 3: Captain James Montgomerie, Master of St. James"
Lodge, Tarbolton, to which the author has the honour to belong.--R.B.]
[Footnote 4: Auchinleck.--R.B.]
[Footnote 5: Ballochmyle.]
[Footnote 6: Mauchline.]
[Footnote 7: Miss Wilhelmina Alexander.]
[Footnote 8: c.u.mnock.--R.B.]
I marked busy, bustling Trade, In fervid flame, Beneath a Patroness" aid, of n.o.ble name.
Wild, countless hills I could survey, And countless flocks as wild as they; But other scenes did charms display, That better please, Where polish"d manners dwell with Gray, In rural ease.^9
Where Cessnock pours with gurgling sound;^10 And Irwine, marking out the bound, Enamour"d of the scenes around, Slow runs his race, A name I doubly honour"d found,^11 With knightly grace.
Brydon"s brave ward,^12 I saw him stand, Fame humbly offering her hand, And near, his kinsman"s rustic band,^13 With one accord, Lamenting their late blessed land Must change its lord.
The owner of a pleasant spot, Near and sandy wilds, I last did note;^14 A heart too warm, a pulse too hot At times, o"erran: But large in ev"ry feature wrote, Appear"d the Man.
The Rantin" Dog, The Daddie O"t
Tune--"Whare"ll our guidman lie."
O wha my babie-clouts will buy?
O wha will tent me when I cry?
Wha will kiss me where I lie?
The rantin" dog, the daddie o"t.
[Footnote 9: Mr. Farquhar Gray.--R.B.]
[Footnote 10: Auchinskieth.--R.B.]
[Footnote 11: Caprington.--R.B.]
[Footnote 12: Colonel Fullerton.--R.B.]
[Footnote 13: Dr. Fullerton.--R.B.]