Levih. Barbour 4-14-16 ADVERTISEMENT. In the present day it would be a superfluous task to eulogise the poetry of Burns. No sooner had he given utterance to his exquisite strains, than they found an echo in the palace and the cottage. Men heard in them the voice of a master-poet-of one of those great minds who exercise an influence on the manners and sentiments of a people ; and even before he died, his country did honour to his surpassing genius, and inscribed his name as the greatest of her minstrels, an award which has been continued with increasing reverence to the present day. And though other poets should arise to divide the national homage, still every succeedirg age will continue to admire the truth and beauty of his sentiments and descriptions, upon the same principle that they will admire the simple manners and romantic scenery by which his inspiration was kindled, and which his patriotic heart loved to celebrate. To be dead to the poetry of Burns, is to be dead to Nature itself. In reprinting the poetical works of one so distinguished in our national literature, the Publishers considered it their duty to collate the various editions of his works, and to collect together the various poems which are the admitted productions of Burns, so as to render the present edition more complete than even the most expensive. The whole has been carefully revised, and edited by one of our inost talented living authors of Scottish Song; and to make the dialect and allusions fully accessible to English readers, glossarial definitions, and notes illustrative of the manners and customs which are described, have been added—not heaped together at the end, to fatigue the patience of the reader by a continual reference to the vocabulary—but subjoined to their respective pages, where they can be seen at a glance, in connexion with the text. In addition to these, the Life of the Author, by the late Dr. Currie, of Liverpool, whose account, notwithstanding the numerous biographies of the poct which have been published, bas never been surpassed, has been prefixed ; and although it has been considerably abridged, still few particulars of any importance have been omitted. These advantages, combined with elegance and economy, will, it is hoped, secure a favourable reception for this edi. tion of Burns' Poems, not only among his coun. trymen, but the public at large. 75 . The T'wa Dogs 5 The Author's Earnest Cry and Prayer to the Scotch Representatives in the House of Commons 48 Address to the Shade of Thomson The Poet's Welcome to his Illegitimate Child ib. To a Posthumous Child, born in peculiar circum- Lines on scaring some Water-Fowl in Loch Turit 84 Sonnet, written January 25, 1793, the birth-day Verses on seeing a wounded hare limp by me, which a fellow had just shot at The Auld Farmer's New-Year morning salutation The Death and dying Words of Poor Mailie 90 . Lines written with a pencil, standing by the Fall Lines written with a pencil, over the chimney- piece, in the parlour of an inn at Kenmore, Taymonth ib. Inscription for an altar to Independence On the late Captain Grose's Peregrinations Fragment, inscribed to the Right Hon. C. J. Fox 113 Scots Prologue, for Mr. Sutherland's benefit Prologne, spoken at the Theatre, Ellisland, on Prologue, spoken by Mr. Woods, on his benefit Ode on the Birth-day of Prince Charles Edward 121 Address, spoken by Miss Fontenelle Verses written under the Portrait of Fergusson, Lines on an Interview with Lord Daer A Prayer, left in a room of a Reverend Friend's A Prayer, under the pressure of violent uish 127 A Prayer, in the prospect of Death The first six verses of the Ninetieth Psalm Man was made to mourn.--A Dirge The Lament, occasioned by the unfortunate issue Lament, written when the Author was about to Lament for James, Earl of Glencairn • 144 To John Lapraik, an old Scottish Bard Epistle to Davie, a brother Poet The Inventory; in answer to a mandate by Mr. To a Gentleman who had sent him a Newspaper, and offered to continue it free of expense To Robert Graham, Esq. of Fintra To the sare on receiving a favour 2n5 ib. . • ib. |
