Horace in Homespun by Hugh Haliburton [i.e. J. L. Robertson] A New Edition with Illustrations by A. S. Boyd |
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| II. |
Hughie's Letter to a Prosperous Friend. |
 | Horace in Homespun by Hugh Haliburton [i.e. J. L. Robertson] |  |
205
Hughie's Letter to a Prosperous Friend.
“Bene est, cui deus obtulit
Parcâ, quod satis est, manu.”
—Car. iii. 16.
Parcâ, quod satis est, manu.”
—Car. iii. 16.
Dear fellow-pilgrim in the vale,
Why should ye langer weep and wail?
Your health is gude, your hands are hale,
Your conscience free—
Deil hae't if onything ye ail
Nae mair than me.
Why should ye langer weep and wail?
Your health is gude, your hands are hale,
Your conscience free—
Deil hae't if onything ye ail
Nae mair than me.
Ye've loyal sons; ye've lasses braw,
Four dainty blossoms fragrant a'—
Lang may they brighten hearth and ha',
Yours or anither's!
Heaven's blessing on their beauty fa',
And on their brithers!
Four dainty blossoms fragrant a'—
Lang may they brighten hearth and ha',
Yours or anither's!
Heaven's blessing on their beauty fa',
And on their brithers!
206
The warld has favoured ye: your schemes
Werena the bonnie baseless dreams
That lure, an' loup to wild extremes,
To land i' Puirhouse;
But solid as the wa's an' beams
O' Warks an' Warehouse.
Werena the bonnie baseless dreams
That lure, an' loup to wild extremes,
To land i' Puirhouse;
But solid as the wa's an' beams
O' Warks an' Warehouse.
Yet wealth brings rarely heart-of-ease:
Even he, wha, if his lairdship please,
In coach-an'-pair, wi' hands on knees,
Can saftly ride,
May envy Jock his bread-an'-cheese
At yon dyke-side.
Even he, wha, if his lairdship please,
In coach-an'-pair, wi' hands on knees,
Can saftly ride,
May envy Jock his bread-an'-cheese
At yon dyke-side.
He's king wha bears a level mind
Strengthened by truth, by love refined,
In brotherhood with all mankind,
And, for the rest,
To Heaven's high will serene resigned,
And self-possest!
Strengthened by truth, by love refined,
In brotherhood with all mankind,
And, for the rest,
To Heaven's high will serene resigned,
And self-possest!
209
What though by Fortune he's bereft?
Tak', limmer, fra him wi' your left
Whate'er your richt hand gave o' gift!—
He'll mak' a fend
In honest poverty to shift
On to the end.
Tak', limmer, fra him wi' your left
Whate'er your richt hand gave o' gift!—
He'll mak' a fend
In honest poverty to shift
On to the end.
| Horace in Homespun by Hugh Haliburton [i.e. J. L. Robertson] | |