A Portrait of Robert Burns Robert Burns

1787 · Song

A Bottle and Friend


There’s nane that’s blest of human kind,But the cheerful and the gay, man,Fal, la, la, &c.
Here’s a bottle and an honest friend!What wad ye wish for mair, man?Wha kens, before his life may end,What his share may be o’ care, man?
Then catch the moments as they fly,And use them as ye ought, man:Believe me, happiness is shy,And comes not aye when sought, man.
Lines Written Under The Picture Of The Celebrated Miss Burns
Cease, ye prudes, your envious railing,Lovely Burns has charms—confess:True it is, she had one failing,Had a woman ever less?
Year
1787
Form
Song
Location
Edinburgh
Source
Project Gutenberg #1279 — Poems and Songs of Robert Burns