Wee Jamie wi' the curly heid He aye sleeps next the wa' Bangs up an' cries, "I want a piece ;" I rin an' fetch them pieces, drinks, But, ere five minutes gang, wee Rab Cries out, frae 'neath the claes, "Mither, mak' Tam gie ower at ance, He's kittlin' wi' his taes." The mischief's in that Tam for tricks, He'd bother half the toon; But aye I hap them up and cry, "Oh, bairnies, cuddle doon." At length they hear their faither's fit, While Tam pretends to snore. "Hae a' the weans been gude?" he asks, As he pits aff his shoon; "The bairnies, John, are in their beds, An' lang since cuddled doon." An' just afore we bed oorsels, We look at our wee lambs; Tam has his airm roun' wee Rab's neck, And Rab his airm round Tam's. The bairnies cuddle doon at nicht Wi' mirth that's dear to me; Yet, come what will to ilka ane, Aye whisper, though their pows be bald, "Oh, bairnies, cuddle doon." Eugene Lee-Hamilton SIR WALTER RALEIGH TO A THOU tiny solace of these prison days, So dear that I will free thee: fly thy CHARLES II. OF SPAIN TO MAKE way, my lords! for Death now once again Waits on the palace stairs. He comes to lay His finger on my brow. Make way! make way, Ye whispering groups that scent an ending reign! Death, if I make thee a grandee of Spain, And give thee half my subjects, wilt thou stay Behind the door a little, while I play When Death awaits him, motionless and black? Upon the wall the inexorable thing TO MY TORTOISE CHRONOS THOU vague dumb crawler with the groping head As listless to the sun as to the showers, Thou very image of the wingless Hours Now creeping past me with their feet of lead : For thee and me the same small garden bed Is the whole world: the same half life is ours; And year by year, as Fate restricts my powers, I grow more like thee, and the soul grows dead. No, Tortoise from thy like in days of old Was made the living lyre; and mighty strings Spanned thy green shell with pure vibrating gold. The notes soared up, on strong but trembling wings, Through ether's lower zones; then, growing bold, Spurned earth for ever and its wingless things. |