Poem On Pastoral Poetry（2 / 2）

and rural grace;

and, wi' the far-fam'd grecian, share

a rival place?

yes! there is ane—a scottish callan!

there's ane; come forrit, honest allan!

thou need na jouk behint the hallan,

a chiel sae clever;

the teeth o' time may gnaw tantallan,

but thou's for ever.

thou paints auld nature to the nines,

in thy sweet caledonian lines;

nae gowden stream thro' myrtle twines,

where philomel,

while nightly breezes sweep the vines,

her griefs will tell!

in gowany glens thy burnie strays,

where bonie lasses bleach their claes,

or trots by hazelly shaws and braes,

wi' hawthorns gray,

where blackbirds join the shepherd's lays,

at close o' day.

thy rural loves are nature's sel';

nae bombast spates o' nonsense swell;

nae snap conceits, but that sweet spell

o' witchin love,

that charm that can the strongest quell,

the sternest move.