LINES WRITTEN AFTER PERUSING A LETTER WRITTEN BY ROBERT BURNS.

Only a scrap of paper, old and worn,

He wrote one day, when in a mood forlorn;

Few are the words, and simply do they stand,

Yet thrill us—they were written by his hand.

His hand had penned these words on which we gaze;

The hand that gave the ‘Daisy’ sweetest praise;

That held a sting for falsehood, and for pride,

And dared raise manhood o’er all else beside.

His eyes looked down upon that faded page—

The eyes that had the vision of the sage;

The eyes that did with wit and laughter glow,

Yet had a tear of sympathy with woe.

His heart impelled these kind words to a friend—

That full, true heart fast throbbing to its end.

In life neglected, what avails it now,

That men would wreathe the laurel round his brow?

Ah, little dreamed he, as he wrote these lines,

That hearts would beat, to look upon the signs

So careless traced one day, in mood forlorn,

But treasured now, as by the poet born.

H. K. W.

The Conductors of Chambers’s Journal beg to direct the attention of Contributors to the following notice:

1st. All communications should be addressed to the ‘Editor, 339 High Street, Edinburgh.’

2d. To insure the return of papers that may prove ineligible, postage-stamps should in every case accompany them.

3d. Manuscripts should bear the author’s full Christian name, surname, and address, legibly written.

4th. MS. should be written on one side of the leaf only.

5th. Poetical offerings should be accompanied by an envelope, stamped and directed.

Unless Contributors comply with the above rules, the Editor cannot undertake to return ineligible papers.

Printed and Published by W. & R. Chambers, 47 Paternoster Row, London, and 339 High Street, Edinburgh.