The Poetry of Robert Burns Edited by William Ernest Henley and Thomas F. Henderson |
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AT THE GLOBE TAVERN, DUMFRIES |
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 | The Poetry of Robert Burns |  |
250
AT THE GLOBE TAVERN, DUMFRIES
1
The greybeard, old Wisdom, may boast of his treasures,Give me with gay Folly to live!
I grant him his calm-blooded, time-settled pleasures,
But Folly has raptures to give.
2
I
I murder hate by field or flood,Tho' Glory's name may screen us.
In wars at hame I'll spend my blood—
Life-giving wars of Venus.
The deities that I adore
Are Social Peace and Plenty:
I'm better pleas'd to make one more
Than be the death of twenty.
II
I would not die like Socrates,For all the fuss of Plato;
Nor would I with Leonidas,
Nor yet would I with Cato;
The zealots of the Church and State
Shall ne'er my mortal foes be;
But let me have bold Zimri's fate
Within the arms of Cozbi.
251
3
My bottle is a holy pool,That heals the wounds o' care an' dool,
And pleasure is a wanton trout—
An ye drink it, ye'll find him out.
4
In politics if thou would'st mix,And mean thy fortunes be;
Bear this in mind: Be deaf and blind,
Let great folks hear and see.
| The Poetry of Robert Burns | |