IS it a Scottish trait to be uneasy about happiness?
It certainly seemed so for Helen B Cruickshank, though her explanation is tempered with both defiance and wit. The piece comes from her Collected Poems (Reprographia, 1971) and serves also as a reminder about this year's McCash Scots Poetry Prize, run jointly by The Herald and Glasgow University.
SAE LANG HAS SORROW
Sae lang has Sorrow tenanted
The hoose o' Life wi' me,
An saut-like seasoned ilka meal
Wi' sharpened ecstasie,
That gin she cam' tae say Fareweel,
An' Joy hersel' cam' ben,
I doobt I wadna welcome her,
The bonny smilin' quean.
And at the lanely hinderend
Gin I sud tak' the road
Tae regions yont the yett o' Daith,
A sorrowless abode,
I doobt I wadna feel at hame
Sans sorrow an' sans sin,
But fleein' frae the wersh-like place
I'd tirl anither pin.
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