est man, though e'er sae poor,
Is king o' men for a' that!
Ye see yon birkie[2] ca'd a lord,
Wha struts, and stares, and a' that;
Though hundreds worship at his word,
He's but a coof[3] for a' that;
For a' that, and a' that,
His riband, star, and a' that,
The man of independent mind,
He looks and laughs at a' that.
A prince can make a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, and a' that;
But an honest man's aboon his might.
Guid faith he maunna fa' that!
For a' that, and a' that,
Their dignities, and a' that,
The pith o' sense, and pride o' worth,
Are higher rank than a' that.
Then let us pray that come it may--
As come it will for a' that--
That sense and worth, o'er a' the earth,
May bear the gree, and a' that;
For a' that, and a' that,
It's coming yet for a' that,
That man to man, the warld o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that!
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Coarse woolen clothes.
[2] Impudent fellow.
[3] Fool: blockhead.
ROBERT BURNS.
A NEW ARRIVAL.
"The New Arrival" is a valuable poem because it expresses the joy of a
young father over his new baby. If girls should be educated to be good
mothers, so should boys be taught that fatherhood is the highest and
holiest joy and right of man. The child is educator to the man. He
teaches him how to take responsibility, how to give unbiased judgments,
and how to be fatherly like "Our Father who is in Heaven." (1844-.)
There came to port last Sunday night
The queerest little craft,
Without an inch of rigging on;
I looked and looked and laughed.
It seemed so curious that she
Should cross the Unknown water,
And moor herself right in my room,
My daughter, O my daughter!
Yet by these presents witness all
She's welcome fifty times,
And comes consigned to Hope and Love
And common-meter rhymes.
She has no manifest but this,
No flag floats o'er the water,
She's too new for the British Lloyds--
My daughter, O my daughter!
Ring out, wild bells, and tame ones too!
Ring out the lover's moon!
Ring in the little worsted socks!
Ring in the bib and spoon!
Ring out the muse! ring in the nurse!
Ring in the milk and water!
Away with paper, pen, and ink--
My daughter, O my daughter!
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