On Seeing One on a Lady's Bonnet at Church
Ha! whare ye gaun' ye crowlin ferlie?
Your impudence protects you sairly;
I canna say but ye strunt rarely
Owre gauze and lace,
Tho faith! I fear ye dine but sparely
On sic a place.
Ye ugly, creepin, blastit wonner,
Detested, shunn'd by saunt an sinner,
How daur ye set your fit upon her—-
Sae fine a lady!
Gae somewhere else and seek your dinner
On some poor body.
Swith! in some beggar's hauffet squattle;
There ye may creep, and sprawl, and sprattle;
Wi' ither kindred, jumping cattle;
In shoals and nations;
Whare horn nor bane ne'er daur unsettle
Your thick plantations.
Now haud you there! ye're out o' sight,
Below the fatt'rils, snug an tight,
Na, faith ye yet! ye'll no be right,
Till ye've got on it—-
The vera tapmost, tow'rin height
O' Miss's bonnet.
My sooth! right bauld ye set your nose out,
As plump an grey as onie grozet:
O for some rank, mercurial rozet,
Or fell, red smeddum,
I'd gie you sic a hearty dose o't,
Wad dress your droddum!
I wad na been surpris'd to spy
You on an auld wife's flainen toy
Or aiblins some bit duddie boy,
On's wyliecoat;
But Miss's fine Lunardi! fye!
How daur ye do't?
O Jeany, dinna toss your head,
An set your beauties a' abread!
Ye little ken what cursed speed
The blastie's makin!
Thae winks an finger-ends, I dread,
Are notice takin!
O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us
An foolish notion:
What airs in dress an gait wad lea'es us,
An ev'n devotion!
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O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
I have long known and sometimes quoted these lines without knowing from where they came.
Now I have read and understood I once again find myself admiring Burns' ability to take a commonplace sight and craft it into a fine poem with a strong message. Knowing that in his day the gentry would wear animal hair wigs which were rarely cleaned and only powdered (as their own hair was too, if they had any) it is obvious that they would become a home for all sorts of creeping, crawling creatures and thus this can be seen as a real event and not just poetic imagery.
Jim -
I found the beginning to be quite humorous, as if 'he' wasn't going to take no shit from no one. And then it went into a sort of peese (is that a word?) and ventured into a angst-ridden forte.
I read this with a scottish accent lol! anyways, great piece. I do much like it, if I could applaud I would applaud this piece.
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