The works of Allan Ramsay edited by Burns Martin ... and John W. Oliver [... and Alexander M. Kinghorn ... and Alexander Law] |
 | I. |
| II. |
 | III. |
| I. |
| II. |
| IV. |
 | The works of Allan Ramsay |  |
110
The Gods of Egypt
Langsyne in Egypt Beasts were Gods,
Sae mony that the Men turn'd Beasts;
Vermin and Brutes, but House or Hald,
Had Offerings, Temples and their Priests.
Sae mony that the Men turn'd Beasts;
Vermin and Brutes, but House or Hald,
Had Offerings, Temples and their Priests.
Ae Day a Rattan, white as Milk,
At a Cat's Shrine was sacrific'd,
And Pompous on the Altar bled:
The Victim much God Badrans pleas'd.
At a Cat's Shrine was sacrific'd,
And Pompous on the Altar bled:
The Victim much God Badrans pleas'd.
The neist Day was God Ratan's Tour;
And that he might propitious Smile,
A Cat is to his Temple brought,
Priests singing round him a' the while.
And that he might propitious Smile,
A Cat is to his Temple brought,
Priests singing round him a' the while.
Odes, Anthems, Hymns, in Verse and Prose,
With Instruments of solemn Sound,
Praying the lang tail'd Diety [Sic]
To bless their Faulds and furrow'd Ground.
With Instruments of solemn Sound,
Praying the lang tail'd Diety [Sic]
To bless their Faulds and furrow'd Ground.
O plague us not with Cats they cry'd,
For this we cut ane's Throat to Thee.—
A bonny God, indeed! quoth Puss,
Can ye believe sae great a Lie.
For this we cut ane's Throat to Thee.—
A bonny God, indeed! quoth Puss,
Can ye believe sae great a Lie.
What am I then, that eat your God,
And Yesterday to me ye bow'd;
This Day I'm to that Vermin offer'd,
God save us! ye're a senseless Crowd.
And Yesterday to me ye bow'd;
This Day I'm to that Vermin offer'd,
God save us! ye're a senseless Crowd.
The close Reflection gart them glowr,
And shook their Thoughts haf out of Joint;
But rather than be fash'd with Thought,
They gart the Ax decide the Point.
And shook their Thoughts haf out of Joint;
But rather than be fash'd with Thought,
They gart the Ax decide the Point.
111
Thus we're Egyptians ane and a',
Our Passions Gods, that gar us swither,
Which just as the Occasion serves,
We sacrifice to ane anither.
Our Passions Gods, that gar us swither,
Which just as the Occasion serves,
We sacrifice to ane anither.
| The works of Allan Ramsay | |