Keep to the right, within and without,
With stranger and pilgrim and friend;
Keep to the right and you need have no doubt
That all will be well in the end.
Keep to the right in whatever you do,
Nor claim but your own on the way;
Keep to the right, and hold on to the true,
From the morn to the close of life's day!
FOR A' THAT
Is there for honest poverty
That hangs his head, and a' that?
The coward slave, we pass him by,
We dare be poor for a' that;
For a' that and a' that;
Our toils obscure and a' that;
The rank is but the guinea-stamp,
The man's the gowd for a' that.
What though on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hodden gray, and a' that:
Gie fools their silks and knaves their wine,
A man's a man for a' that;
For a' that and a' that,
Their tinsel show, and a' that,
The honest man, though e'er sae poor,
Is king o' men, for a' that.
You see yon birkie ca'd a lord,
Wha struts and stares, and a' that:
Though hundreds worship at his word
He's but a coof for a' that.
For a' that and a' that,
His riband, star, and a' that,
The man of independent mind,
He looks and laughs at a' that.
A prince can mak a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, and a' that;
But an honest man's aboon his might,
Guid faith, he mauna fa' that,
For a' that and a' that,
Their dignities, and a' that,
The pith of sense and pride o' worth,
Are higher ranks than a' that.
Then let us pray that come it may,
As come it will, for a' that,
That sense and worth o'er a' the earth,
May bear the gree and a' that;
For a' that and a' that,
It's comin' yet for a' that,
That man to man, the warld o'er,
Shall brothers be, for a' that.
--Robert Burns.
Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage;
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for a hermitage;
If I have freedom in my love,
And in my soul am free,
Angels alone, that soar above,
Enjoy such liberty.
--Richard Lovelace.
"A MAN'S A MAN FOR A' THAT"
(A new song to an old tune.)
"A man's a man," says Robert Burns,
"For a' that and a' that";
But though the song be clear and strong
It lacks a note for a' that.
The lout who'd shirk his daily work,
Yet claim his wage and a' that,
Or beg when he might earn his bread,
Is _not_ a man for a' that.
If all who "dine on homely fare"
Were true and brave and a' that,
And none whose garb is "hodden gray"
Was fool or knave and a' that,
The vice and crime that shame our time
Would disappear and a' that,
And plowmen be as great as kings,
And churls as earls for a' that.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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