Short Poems

The Collectivist State
Is a prig and a bandit.
I despise and I hate
The Collectivist State;
It may be My Fate,
But I'm damned if I'll stand it!
The Collectivist State
Is a prig and a bandit.

" I saw the Sibyl at Cumae"
(One said) " with mine own eye.
She hung in a cage, and read her rune
To all the passers-by.
Said the boys, " What wouldst thou, Sibyl? "
She answered, " I would die. " "

IX

Swift fall the blows, and men upbraid,
And friends give echo blunt and cold,
The echo of the forest to the axe.
Within her are the fires that wax
For resurrection from the mould.

VIII

Henceforth of her the Gods are known,
Open to them her breast is laid.
Inveterate of brain, heart-valiant,
Never did fairer creature pant
Before the altar and the blade!

IV

He tells it, who knew the law
Upon mortals: he stood alive
Declaring that this he saw:
He could see, and survive.

535. [C]

My bottle is a holy pool,
That heals the wounds o' care an' dool;
And pleasure is a wanton trout,
An ye drink it, ye'll find him out.

[B]

L — D, we [thee] thank an' thee adore
For temp'ral gifts we little merit;
At present we will ask no more,
Let William Hislop give the spirit.

Before Dinner

O Lord, when hunger pinches sore,
Do thou stand us in stead,
And send us from thy bounteous store
A tup- or wether-head!
Amen.

With a present of a dozen of Porter.

O Had the malt thy strength of mind,
Or hops the flavour of thy wit;
'Twere drink for first of human kind,
A gift that e'en for Se were fit.

Jerusalem Tavern, Dumfries.

No more of your guests, be they titled or not,
And cook'ry the first in the nation:
Who is proof to thy personal converse and wit,
Is proof to all other temptation.