But fair and sweet as thou, my spirit home, To this fond, loving, clinging heart of mine, Are Scotia’s fields, where once I loved to roam, And pluck the gowan and the eglantine. Thy brooks are clear, but Scotia’s burns are bonnie, Where once I paddled through the simmer day; Thy birds recall the times, not few but monny, I’ve heard the mavis chant her tuneful lay. And though thy mountains rise in mystic glory, They are not fairer to my spirit sight Than Scotia’s grim old crags and peaks so hoary, That brought my boyhood soul such dear delight. Aye, Scotia’s lands to me are sweet and canny, As in the days I roamed her meadows fine, Wi’ loving frien’, or gleesome, prattling bairnie— Those sweet, rare blessings of the auld lang syne. As a ray of light, in passing through a pane of glass, may become broken or refracted, or as a straight staff placed in a vessel of water may present a misshapen appearance to the beholder, so in attempting to present to you the straight, symmetrical lines of thought, the golden rays of light, emanating from a poet’s soul, they become broken and distorted in their passage through matter; but by these refracted rays you may be able to gain a faint comprehension of the glory of the soul in which they originated. And thus we passed our time, with great profit to myself; for, from the companionship of my friend, I gained a knowledge of the true beauty of the natural life of the spirit, and a larger conception of the grandeur of individualized life, when fulfilling its proper mission and expanding to its full capacity, even while drinking in the beauty of my surroundings, the harmony of the scene, quaffing the crystal drops or inspiring thought which filled the soul of my companion, and imbibing of that deep peace and gladness that imbued his entire being. In attempting to portray to you a tithe of the pleasure and profit that my spirit gained from this visit to Robert Burns I have sought to give you an idea of the home and occupation of Scotland’s immortalized son, whose songs and poems have enriched the literature of earth, and gladdened the hearts of countless beings here and in the immortal world; but in doing so I have deeply realized that it is impossible for spirits to convey to mortals an adequate conception of life in the soul world as it really is.