On the eve of July 14, Bastille Day, a polemic from Robert Burns. Like many idealists, he instinctively hailed the French Revolution, even approving of the execution of Louis XVI at the guillotine. Here are some salient verses from The Tree of Liberty, the last one softer in tone.
from THE TREE OF LIBERTY
Heard ye o’ the tree o’ France,
I watna what’s the name o’t;
Around it a’ the patriots dance,
Weel Europe kens the fame o’t.
It stands where ance the Bastile stood,
A prison built by kings, man,
When Superstition’s hellish brood
Kept France in leading strings, man.
~
Upo’ this tree there grows sic fruit,
Its virtues a’ can tell, man;
It raises man aboon the brute,
It maks him ken himsel, man.
Gif ance the peasant taste a bit,
He’s greater than a lord, man,
An’ wi’ the beggar shares a mite
O’ a’ he can afford, man.
~
Let Britain boast her hardy oak,
Her poplar and her pine, man,
Auld Britain ance could crack her joke,
And o’er her neighbours shine, man.
But seek the forest round and round,
And soon ’twill be agreed, man.
That sic a tree can not be found
’Twixt London and the Tweed, man.
~
Wi’ plenty o’ sic trees, I trow,
This warld would live in peace, man;
The sword would help to mak a plough,
The din o’ war wad cease, man.
Like brethren in a common cause,
We’d on each other smile, man;
And equal rights and equal laws
Wad gladden every isle, man.
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