The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd Centenary Edition. With a Memoir of the Author, by the Rev. Thomas Thomson ... Poems and Life. With Many Illustrative Engravings [by James Hogg] |
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 | The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd |  |
“I've touch'd the proper peg that winds
That high-toned string of mortal minds
Up to the height! Oh, God of Life!
Why mad'st thou man a thing of strife,
Of pride, and lust, of power so high
That scarcely quails beneath the sky!
Yet a poor pin, a scratch, a thrust
Can bring his honours to the dust,
And lay the haughty godlike form
A fellow to the crawling worm!
I've sped; but thou alone can'st know
Whether I've sped for weal or woe;
O thou To-Morrow! who can see
What joy or sorrow waits on thee!”
That high-toned string of mortal minds
Up to the height! Oh, God of Life!
Why mad'st thou man a thing of strife,
Of pride, and lust, of power so high
That scarcely quails beneath the sky!
Yet a poor pin, a scratch, a thrust
Can bring his honours to the dust,
And lay the haughty godlike form
A fellow to the crawling worm!
I've sped; but thou alone can'st know
Whether I've sped for weal or woe;
O thou To-Morrow! who can see
What joy or sorrow waits on thee!”
| The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd | |