Such is the fate of simple bard, On life's rough ocean luckless starred! Unskilful he to note the card Of prudent lore, Till billows rage, and gales blow hard, And whelm him o'er! Such fate to suffering worth is given, Who long with wants and woes has striven, By human pride or cunning driven To misery's brink, Till, wrenched of every stay but Heaven, He, ruined, sink! Even thou who mourn'st the Daisy's fate, That fate is thine--no distant date; Stern Ruin's ploughshare drives, elate, Full on thy bloom, Till crushed beneath the furrow's weight, Shall be thy doom. VOCABULARY. =bield=, protection. =blythe=, happy. =bonnie=, pretty. =card=, compass. =glinted=, passed quickly. =histie=, barren. =maun=, must. =spreckled=, speckled. =stibble=, stubble. =stoure=, dust. =weet=, wetness. =wrenched=, deprived. FOR A' THAT, AND A' THAT. Is there, for honest poverty, That hangs his head, and a' that?{1} 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's stamp,{2} The man's the gowd{3} for a' that! What though on hamely fare we dine, Wear hoddin 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! Ye see yon birkie,{4} ca'd a lord, Wha struts, and stares, and a' that; Though hundreds worship at his word, He's but a coof{5} 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{6} his might, Guid faith, he maunna fa'{7} that! For a' that, and a' that, Their dignities, and a' that; The pith o' 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,{8} and a' that. For a' that, and a' that, It's coming yet, for a' that, That man to man, the warld o'er, Shall brothers be for a' that! NOTES. 1. Is there anything in honest poverty to cause one to hang his head, etc.? 2. Explain lines 7 and 8 fully. 3. =gowd=, gold. 4. =birkie=, fellow. 5. =coof=, fool. 6. =aboon his might=, above his power. 7. =maunna fa'=, may not get.