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When, glimmering thro' the groaning trees,
Kirk-Alloway seem'd in a bleeze;

Thro' ilka bore the beams were glancing; And loud resounded mirth and dancing.105 Inspiring bold John Barleycorn!

What dangers thou canst make us scorn!
Wi' tippenny we fear nae evil;

Wi' usquebae, we'll face the devil!

The swats sae ream'd in Tammie's noddle, 110 Fair play, he car'd na deils a boddle.

But Maggie stood right sair astonish'd, Till, by the heel and hand admonish'd, She ventur'd forward on the light; And vow! Tam saw an unco sight! 115 Warlocks and witches in a dance; Nae cotillion brent new frae France, But hornpipes, jigs, strathspeys, and reels, Put life and mettle in their heels.

A winnock-bunker in the east,

120 There sat auld Nick, in shape o' beast;
A towzie tyke, black, grim, and large,
To gie them music was his charge:
He screw'd the pipes and gart them skirl,
Till roof and rafters a' did dirl.

125 Coffins stood round like open presses,
That shaw'd the dead in their last dresses;
And by some devilish cantrip slight —
Each in its cauld hand held a light,

By which heroic Tam was able

130 To note upon the haly table,

A murderer's banes in gibbet airns;
Twa span-lang, wee, unchristen'd bairns;
A thief, new-cutted frae the rape,
Wi' his last gasp his gab did gape;

135 Five tomahawks, wi' blude red rusted;
Five scymitars, wi' murder crusted;
A garter, which a babe had strangled;
A knife, a father's throat had mangled,
Whom his ain son o' life bereft,

140 The grey hairs yet stack to the heft;
Wi' mair o' horrible and awfu',

Which ev'n to name wad be unlawfu'.

As Tammie glowr'd, amaz'd and curious, The mirth and fun grew fast and furious: 145 The piper loud and louder blew ;

The dancers quick and quicker flew ;

They reel'd, they set, they cross'd, they cleekit,
Till ilka carlin swat and reekit,

And coost her duddies to the wark,

150 And linket at it in her sark!

Now Tam, O Tam! had thae been queans,
A' plump and strapping in their teens!
Their sarks, instead o' creeshie flainen,
Been snaw-white seventeen-hunder linen !
155 Thir breeks o mine, my only pair,

That ance were plush, o' guid blue hair,
I wad hae gi'en them off my hurdies,
For ae blink o' the bonnie burdies!
But wither'd beldams, auld and droll,
160 Rigwoodie hags wad spean a foal,
Louping an' flinging on a crummock,
I wonder didna turn thy stomach.

But Tam kenn'd what was what fu' brawlie,
There was ae winsome wench and waulie,

165 That night enlisted in the core,

(Lang after kenn'd on Carrick shore;
For mony a beast to dead she shot,
And perish'd mony a bonny boat,

And shook baith meikle corn and bear, 170 And kept the country-side in fear,)

Her cutty sark, o' Paisley harn,
That while a lassie she had worn,
In longitude tho' sorely scanty,

It was her best, and she was vauntie.
175 Ah! little kenn'd thy reverend grannie,
That sark she coft for her wee Nannie,
Wi' twa pund Scots ('twas a' her riches),
Wad ever grac'd a dance o' witches!

But here my muse her wing maun cour;
180 Sic flights are far beyond her pow'r ;
To sing how Nannie lap and flang,
(A souple jade she was, and strang,)
And how Tam stood, like ane bewitch'd,

And thought his very een enrich'd ;

185 Even Satan glowr'd, and fidg'd fu' fain, And hotch'd and blew wi' might and main : Till first ae caper, syne anither,

Tam tint his reason a' thegither,

And roars out, "Weel done, Cutty-sark!

190 And in an instant all was dark :

And scarcely had he Maggie rallied,
When out the hellish legion sallied.

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As bees bizz out wi' angry fyke,
When plundering herds assail their byke,

195 As open pussie's mortal foes,

When, pop! she starts before their nose;
As eager runs the market-crowd,

When, "Catch the thief!" resounds aloud;
So Maggie runs, the witches follow,

200 Wi' mony an eldritch skreech and hollow.

Ah, Tam! Ah, Tam! thou'll get thy fairin ! In hell they'll roast thee like a herrin!

In vain thy Kate awaits thy comin !

Kate soon will be a woefu' woman!
205 Now, do thy speedy utmost, Meg,
And win the key-stane o' the brig:
There at them thou thy tail may toss,
A running stream they darena cross.
But ere the key-stane she could make,
210 The fient a tail she had to shake!
For Nannie, far before the rest,
Hard upon noble Maggie prest,
And flew at Tam wi' furious ettle;
But little wist she Maggie's mettle —
215 Ae spring brought off her master hale
But left behind her ain grey tail:
The carlin claught her by the rump,
And left poor Maggie scarce a stump.

Now, wha this tale o' truth shall read,
220 Ilk man and mother's son, take heed,
Whene'er to drink you are inclin'd,
Or cutty-sarks run in your mind,
Think, ye may buy the joys o'er dear,
Remember Tam o' Shanter's mare.

(1-32) In Shairp's "Burns," E. M. L., p. 121, read the testimony of the wife of Burns in regard to the poet's behaviour during poetic composition. Burns drew Tam, Souter Johnny, and "sullen dame," from real life. (33– 58) Note that this storm swirling outside the tavern represents Tam's wife. Tam, ensconced by the "ingle," drinking his divine "nappy" ale, pays careless attention to the "rair and rustle" without. He seems oblivious of the ghost of his wife, who rides in her attacks on the back of a storm; but as time passes, dramatic harmony is appreciated, — the hurricane without is met by as great a tempest within the breast, when his conscience feels the home-call of his Kate. "O'er a' the ills o' life victorious" is a motto which Burns afterward obeyed in "sage experience" at the Globe tavern of Dumfries. (59–104) Observe the felicitous phrases which rise in greatness above the dialect. This is unusual in the poems

of Burns.' Detect faint traces of the midnight ride of Ichabod Crane. (105-224) "Inspiring bold John Barleycorn!" Cf. "Scotch Drink" :

"Leeze me on thee, John Barleycorn,

and "Holy Fair":

Thou king o' grain!"

"Leeze me on drink! it gies us mair
Than either school or college."

What fault may be found with Burns' treatment of the supernatural? Compare the comical elements in the poem with those presented in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Name ten rides in English and American literature and the famous rides in German poetry that have been written by Bürger and Goethe. Burns has not strongly painted a moral. Consult E. M. L. " Wordsworth," p. 149, for a criticism of "Tam o' Shanter."

A BARD'S EPITAPH

Is there a whim-inspired fool,

Owre fast for thought, owre hot for rule,
Owre blate to seek, owre proud to snool?
Let him draw near;

5 And owre this grassy heap sing dool,
And drap a tear.

ΙΟ

Is there a bard of rustic song,

Who, noteless, steals the crowds among,
That weekly this area throng?—

O, pass not by !

But, with a frater-feeling strong,

Here, heave a sigh.

Is there a man, whose judgment clear, Can others teach the course to steer, 15 Yet runs, himself, life's mad career,

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