As bees flee hame wi' lades o' treasure, loads

The minutes wing'd their way wi' pleasure;

Kings may be blest, but Tam was glorious,

O'er a' the ills o' life victorious!

But pleasures are like poppies spread—

You seize the flow'r, its bloom is shed;

Or like the snow falls in the river—

A moment white, then melts for ever;

Or like the borealis race,

That flit ere you can point their place;