Poetry
Robert Burns
Photograph copyright Edinburgh University, Special Collections.
Robert Burns (1759-1796). Scottish poet and collector and writer of folk-songs, including "Auld Lang Syne". The manuscript for "Address to Edinburgh" (1787) is in Burns' own hand. Reference La.III.586 fol.22.
This page of the manuscript reads:
Edina! Scotia's darling seat!
All hail thy palaces and tow'rs,
Where once, beneath a Monarch's feet,
Sat Legislation's sov'reign pow'rs:
From marking wildly scatt'red flow'rs,
As on the banks of Ayr I stray'd,
And singing, lone, the lingering hours,
I shelter in thy honour'd shade.
Here Wealth still swells the golden tide,
As busy Trade his labours plies;
There Architecture's noble pride
Bids elegance and splendour rise:
Here Justice, from her native skies,
High wields her balance and her rod;
There Learning, with his eagle eyes,
Seeks Science in her coy abode.