Classic Poem

What! shall my rural muse in feeble strain
Of pompous deaths and titled woes complain,
And shall she be asham'd to drop a tear
In public, o'er a worthy Farmer's bier?
A Farmer! name of universal praise,
And noble subject for the poet's lays:
This one, a Farmer of superior mind,
For higher spheres from early love design'd,
Taught to converse with men of rank and note,
Yet stooping to adorn the rural cot;
There, calm and quiet in his humble state,
Lov'd by the good, and valu'd by the great,
Disdaining flattery, yet without offence,
The man of manners, virtue, grace, and sense.
In agriculture's wide extended tract,
Skill'd and instructive, punctual and exact,
Prudent from principle in every part,
Which or concerns the head, or moves the heart.
To God religious, to his neighbour just,
And strictly honest in each branch of trust;
Ne'er jarring from himself, but still the same,
Clear in his thoughts and steady in his aim
In speech engaging and in taste refin'd,
The Farmer's pattern, and the scholar's friend.
To such a Farmer surely praise is due,
And all who knew him can declare it true,
Can tell how uniform o'er life's vain stage
He stept in virtue's paths to good old age.
Fair was his life, and blest, we hope, his end;
To each good man may Heav'n such mercy send!
Asks any reader who this man could be,
So much esteem'd by all, and prais'd by me:
Know, honest friend, that in thy way to fame,
A Farmer's footsteps do thy notice claim,
And James A RBUTHNOT was that Farmer's name.