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The songs and poems of Robert Tannahill

With biography, illustrations, and music
 
 

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THE POOR BOWLMAN'S REMONSTRANCE.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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162

THE POOR BOWLMAN'S REMONSTRANCE.

Through winter's cold and summer's heat,
I earn my scanty fare;
From morn till night, along the street,
I cry my earthen ware.
Then, O let pity sway your souls!
And mock not that decrepitude
Which draws me from my solitude
To cry my plates and bowls!
From thoughtless youth I often brook
The trick and taunt of scorn,
And though indiff'rence marks my look,
My heart with grief is torn.
Then, O let pity sway your souls!
Nor sneer contempt in passing by;
Nor mock, derisive, while I cry,
“Come, buy my plates and bowls.”
The potter moulds the passive clay
To all the forms you see;
And that same Pow'r that formèd you
Hath likewise fashion'd me.
Then, O let pity sway your souls!—
Though needy, poor as poor can be,
I stoop not to your charity,
But cry my plates and bowls.
 

“The above was written on seeing the boys plaguing little Johnnie the Bowlman, while some who thought themselves men were reckoning it excellent sport.” —Tannahill.