A GODLY BALLANT. THE rich man sat in his father's seat -- Purple an' linen, and a' thing fine! The puir man lay at his gate i' the street -- Sairs an' tatters, an' weary pine! To the rich man's table ilk dainty comes; Mony a morsel gaed frae't, or fell; The puir man fain wad hae dined on the crumbs, But whether he got them I canna tell. Servants quate, saft-fittit, an' stoot, Stan' by the rich man's curtain'd doors; Maisterless dogs that rin about, Cam to the puir man an' lickit his sores. The rich man dee'd, an' they buried him gran'; In linen fine his body they wrap; But the angels tuik up the beggar man, An' laid him doon in Abraham's lap. The guid upo' this side, the ill upo' that -- Sic was the rich man's waesome fa'; But his brithers they eat, an' they drink, an' they chat, An' carena a straw for their father's ha'. The trowth's the trowth, think what ye will; An' some they kenna what they wad be at; But the beggar man thocht he did no that ill, Wi' the dogs i' this side, the angels o' that. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...GREEN SYMPHONY by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER A RECEIPT TO CURE THE VAPOURS by MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU HOPE AND DESPAIR by LASCELLES ABERCROMBIE UNDERNEATH THE BOUGH by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS POEM FOR PICTURE: TO A DRAWING OF A HORSE BY GEORGIO DI CHIRICO by FRANK ANKENBRAND JR. WINDOW TRIMMER by MARGARET LEE ASHLEY THE COMPLAINT OF POETIE, FOR THE DEATH OF LIBERALITE by RICHARD BARNFIELD INTRODUCTION TO A LADY'S ALBUM by JOHN GARDINER CALKINS BRAINARD |