Robert Burns "Such a Parcel Of Rogues" & "A Man's A Man For All That"

So here's a couple of Robert Burns' poems which are as relevant as ever. (They are adapted into English from the Scottish dialect )
Robert Burns Scottish Poet, The Bard born January 25, 1759
Died july 25, 1796.
For more see the rather large website Burns Country: Official Robert Burns site

Anyway this poem " Such a parcel of rogues " by Robert Burns is about the Sottish Lords who betrayed their nation to the English for property , power & gold. It is an apt & even today a relevant theme about those who are willing to sell out their own countrymen for the right price.

Such a parcel of rogues

Farewell to(all)our Scottish fame,
Farewell our ancient glory;
Farewell even to the Scottish name,
So famed in martial story.
Now Sark flows over Solway sands,
And Tweed flows to the ocean,
To mark where England's province stands-
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!

What force or guile could not subdue,
Through many warlike ages,
Is wrought now by a coward few,
For hireling traitor's wages.
The English ( still) we could disdain,
Secure in valour's station;
But English gold has been our bane-
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!

O would, (before) I had seen the day
That Treason thus could sell us,
My old grey head had lain in clay,
with Bruce and loyal Wallace!
But without pith and power, till my last hour,
I'll (make) this declaration;
We're bought and sold for English gold-
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!

The second poem is one of hope & a vision for a better world.

A Man's A Man For All That

1795


Is there for honest Poverty
That hangs his head, and all that;
The coward slave-we pass him by,
We dare be poor for all that!
For all that, and all that.
Our toils obscure and all that,
The rank is but the guinea's stamp, (pennies copper)
The Man's the gold for all that.

What though on humble fare we dine,
Wear hoddin grey ( like a sage), an' a that;
Give fools their silks, and knaves their wine;
A Man's a Man for all that:
For all that, and all that,
Their tinsel show, and all that;
The honest man, though ever so poor,
Is king of men for all that.

Ye see (yonder) birkie, called a lord,
Who struts, and stares, and all that;
Though hundreds worship at his word,
He's but a coof (fool ) for all that:
For all that, and all that,
His ribband, star, and all that:
The man of independent mind
He looks and laughs at all that.

A prince can make a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, and all that;
But an honest man is beyond his might,
Good faith, he musn't forget for all that!
For all that, and all that,
Their dignities and all that;
The pit of sense, and pride of worth,
Are higher rank than all that.

Then let us pray that come it may,
As come it will for all that,
That Sense and Worth, over all the earth,
Shall ( spread ), and all that.
For all that, and all that,
It's coming yet for all that,
That Man to Man, the world over ,
Shall brothers be for all that.