or, in other terms, thoughts and words elegantly adapted to the subject.' Their thoughts . . . not obvious. "The conceits [of Donne's poetry] have not even the merit of being intelligible' (Hallam). Discordia concors, harmonious discord, agreement in disagreement, likeness in the midst of unlikeness. Cf. note to 'idly busy,' page 297. Exility, slenderness, smallness. Lat. exilis (thin, feeble). Hyperbole, exaggeration. Gr. hyper (beyond, over), and bole (cast, throwing); lit. throwing beyond the Marino (1569-1625), an Italian poet. The diction is very highly latinised.-Balance. ROBERT BURNS.-1759-1796. ROBERT BURNS, the greatest of Scottish poets, was born in Ayr. shire, the son of a small farmer. His regular schooling was inconsiderable, but he listened with avidity to 'tales and songs concerning devils, ghosts, fairies, &c.,' and he was a diligent reader. At sixteen he was engaged regularly at fixed wages on his father's farm, and from this time he began to mix more and more in country society, including dancing schools, debating societies, penny weddings, mason meetings, drinking matches, &c. On his father's death, he turned farmer (1784), but, like his father's various experiments, the poet's farming came to no good. In order to escape from farming and other troubles, Burns accepted a situation in Jamaica; and it was to raise nine pounds to pay his passage that he published his first poems (August 1786). He was on the point of embarking, when an encouraging letter drew him to Edinburgh (November 28), where he became the lion of the season. The success of the poems was complete. After another trial of farming, the poet received an excise appointment (1789), and though soon ceasing to 'woo his rustic muse in his wonted way at the plough-tail,' he continued to woo her among ale firkins and beer barrels for the rest of his life. He died at Dumfries at the age of 37. 'Alas, men must fit themselves into many things: some forty years ago, for instance, the noblest and ablest Man in all the British lands might be seen not swaying the royal sceptre, or the pontiff's censer, on the pinnacle of the World, but gauging ale-tubs in the little burgh of Dumfries!' (Carlyle, 1832). The Poems of Burns are all short pieces, composed at various times from his fifteenth year onwards. There are songs in hundreds, poetical epistles, moral stanzas, odes, epitaphs, occasional verses, &c. In 1785 and 1786, the bard was very busy with the Muses.' Tam o'Shanter was produced in autumn, 1790, 'by universal assent the crowning glory and masterpiece of its author.' 'If we applaud the Roman emperor who found Rome brick and left it marble, what shall we say of the man who found the songs of his country indelicate and left them pure-who made wholesome the air which the spirit and the affections breathe? And Burns did this. He drove immodesty from love, and coarseness from humour. And not only did he purify existing Scottish song; he added to it all that it has of best and rarest. . . And in so adding to and purifying Scottish song, Burns has conferred the greatest benefit on his countrymen that it is in the power of the poet to confer' (Alexander Smith, Preface to the Globe Edition of Burns). ... TO A MOUSE, ON TURNING HER UP IN HER NEST WITH THE PLOUGH, Nov. 1785. Oh what a panic 's in thy breastie ! I wad be laith to rin 10 and chase thee, I'm truly sorry man's dominion Has broken Nature's social union, An' justifies that ill opinion 5 Which makes thee startle 10 At me, thy poor earthborn companion, An' fellow-mortal! I doubt na, whiles,12 but thou may thieve; A daimen icker 14 in a thrave 15 'S a sma' 16 request: I'll get a blessin' wi' the lave,17 15 1 Little. 2 Sleek, with smooth shining coat. 6 Hurrying with short steps (cf. 'bickered,' Thomson, Castle of Indolence, 11 Plough i 3). 7 Clattering noise. Would. Loath, unwilling. 10 Run. staff. 12 Sometimes. 13 Must. 14 An occasional (Scot. auntrin) ear of corn. 15 Two shocks; twenty-four sheaves. 16 Small. 17 What is left, the rest. T Thy wee bit housie, too, in ruin! An' bleak December's winds ensuin', Baith snell an' keen! 5 Has cost thee mony a weary nibble! Now thou's turned out, for a' 10 thy trouble, 35 To thole 13 the winter's sleety dribble,14 An' cranreuch 15 cauld! 16 But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane,17 40 An' lea'e 21 us nought but grief an' pain, Still thou art blest, compared wi' me! But, och! 22 I backward cast my ee,23 An' forward, tho' I canna 24 see, I guess an' fear. 45 1 Thin, weak. 2 Walls. Winds. 4 Build. 5 One. Moss. 7 Sharp, biting. 8 Stubble. 9 Thou is (for 'art'). 10 All. 11 Without. 12 Hold, dwelling-place. 18 Bear, suffer (Ger. dulden). 14 Drizzle. 15 Hoar-frost. 16 Cold. 17 Not alone. 18 Go. 19 Oft. 20 Lit. on-gley=a-squint, off the right line; go wrong, prove failures. 21 Leave. 22 Ah! 23 Eye. 24 Cannot. NOTES. 6. Pattle, a long pole shod with iron, used to free the plough when it is clogged with earth. 19. Wee bit housie. Three diminutives: 'wee,' 'bit,' 'and '-ie.' In Scotch there are often more, for very strong |