Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


LINES WRITTEN ON A BANK NOTE by ROBERT BURNS

Poet Analysis

First Line: WAE WORTH THY POW'R, THOU CURSED LEAF
Last Line: NEVER, PERHAPS, TO GREET OLD SCOTLAND MORE.
Subject(s): MONEY; SCOTLAND;

Wae worth thy pow'r, thou cursed leaf!
Fell source o' a' my woe and grief!
For lack o' thee I've lost my lass!
For lack o' thee I scrimp my glass!
I see the children of affliction
Unaided, through thy curst restriction:
I've seen the oppressor's cruel smile
Amid his hapless victim's spoil;
And for thy potence vainly wished,
To crush the villain in the dust:
For lack o' thee, I leave this much-lov'd shore,
Never, perhaps, to greet old Scotland more.



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