ermons, his didactic pieces are among those most quoted and
relished by his countrymen. The morally elevated but poetically
inferior closing stanzas of _The Cotter's Saturday Night_ are an
instance in point; others are the morals appended to _To a Mouse_ and
_To a Daisy_, and to a number of his rhyming epistles.

These epistles are among the most significant of his writings for the
reader in search of personal revelations. The _Epistle to James Smith_
contains the much-quoted stanza on the poet's motives:

Some rhyme a neebor's name to lash;
Some rhyme (vain thought!) for needful cash;
Some rhyme to court the countra clash, [gossip]
An' raise a din;
For me, an aim I never fash; [trouble about]
I rhyme for fun.

Another gives his view of his equipment:

The star that rules my luckless lot,
Has fated me the russet coat,
An' damned my fortune to the groat;
But, in requit,
Has blest me with a random-shot
O' countra wit. [country]

Then he passes from literary considerations to his general philosophy
of life:

But why o' death begin a tale?
Just now we're living sound an' hale;
Then top and maintop crowd the sail;
Heave Care o'er-side!
And large, before Enjoyment's gale,
Let's tak the tide.

* * * * *

When ance life's day draws near the gloamin,
Then fareweel vacant, careless roamin;
An' fareweel cheerfu' tankards foamin,
An' social noise:
An' fareweel dear, deluding Woman,
The joy of joys!

Here, as often, he contrasts his own reckless impulsive temper with
that of prudent calculation:

With steady aim, some Fortune chase;
Keen Hope does ev'ry sinew brace;
Thro' fair, thro' foul, they urge the race,
And seize the prey:
Then cannie, in some cozie place, [quietly]
They close the day.

And others, like your humble servan',
Poor wights! nae rules nor roads observin',
To right or left eternal swervin',
They zig-zag on;
Till, curst with age, obscure an' starvin',
They aften groan.

* * * * *

O ye douce folk that liv