Robert Burns - How To Know Him by William Allan Neilson
page 169 of 334 (50%)
page 169 of 334 (50%)
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The gentleman in word an' deed,
An' shall his fame an' honour bleed By worthless skellums, [railers] An' not a Muse erect her head To cowe the blellums? [daunt, blusterers] O Pope, had I thy satire's darts To gie the rascals their deserts, [give] I'd rip their rotten, hollow hearts, An' tell aloud Their jugglin', hocus-pocus arts To cheat the crowd. God knows I'm no the thing I should be, Nor am I even the thing I could be, But, twenty times, I rather would be An atheist clean, Than under gospel colours hid be, Just for a screen. An honest man may like a glass, An honest man may like a lass; But mean revenge, an' malice fause, [false] He'll still disdain, An' then cry zeal for gospel laws, Like some we ken. They tak religion in their mouth; They talk o' mercy, grace, an' truth, For what? To gie their malice skouth [scope] |
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