The Poetical Works of Robert Burns/Address to the Shade of Thomson, on crowning his Bust at Ednam

by Robert Burns (1759-1796)

ADDRESS TO THE SHADE OF THOMSON,

ON CROWNING HIS BUST AT EDNAM, ROXBURGH-SHIRE, WITH BAYS.

 

While virgin Spring, by Eden's flood, Unfolds her tender mantle green,Or pranks the sod in frolic mood,Or tunes Eolian strains between;

While Summer with a matron graceRetreats to Dryburgh's cooling shade,Yet oft, delighted, stops to traceThe progress of the spiky blade;

While Autumn, benefactor kind,By Tweed erects his aged head,And sees, with self-approving mind,Each creature on his bounty fed;

While maniac Winter rages o'erThe hills whence classic Yarrow flows,Rousing the turbid torrent's roar,Or sweeping, wild, a waste of snows;

So long, sweet Poet of the year,Shall bloom that wreath thou well hast won;While Scotia, with exulting tear,Proclaims that Thomson was her son.