We've worn to crazy years thegither;
We'll toyte about wi' ane anither; totter
Wi' tentie care I'll flit thy tether attentive, change
To some hain'd rig, reserved plot
Where ye may nobly rax your leather, stretch, sides
Wi' sma' fatigue.
To the evidence of Burns's warm-heartedness supplied by these kindly verses may appropriately be added the [Address to the Deil]. Burns's attitude to the supernatural we have already slightly touched on. Apart from the somewhat vague Deism which seems to have formed his personal creed, the poet's attitude toward most of the beliefs in the other world which were held around him was one of amused skepticism. [Halloween] and [Tam o' Shanter] show how he regarded the grosser rural superstitions; but the Devil was another matter. Scottish Calvinism had, as has been said, made him almost the fourth person in the Godhead; and Burns's thrusts at this belief are among the most effective things in his satire. In the present piece, however, the satirical spirit is almost overcome by kindliness and benevolent humor, and few of his poems are more characteristic of this side of his nature.
ADDRESS TO THE DEIL
O thou! whatever title suit thee,
Auld Hornie, Satan, Mick, or Clootie, Hoofie