Written in the Habbie dialect, Robert Burns’ poem, To a Louse, sees the narrator pondering over a louse he spots crawling on a lady’s bonnet in church. The louse does not care about class distinctions and regards all human beings equally, as potential hosts.
To a Louse
Robert Burns
Original
Ha! whaur ye gaun, ye crowlin ferlie?
Your impudence protects you sairly;
I canna say but ye strunt rarely,
Owre gauze and lace;
Tho’, faith! I fear ye dine but sparely
On sic a place.
Ye ugly, creepin, blastit wonner,
Detested, shunn’d by saunt an’ sinner,
How daur ye set your fit upon her-
Sae fine a lady?
Gae somewhere else and seek your dinner
On some poor body.
Swith! in some beggar’s haffet squattle;
There ye may creep, and sprawl, and sprattle,
Wi’ ither kindred, jumping cattle,
In shoals and nations;
Whaur horn nor bane ne’er daur unsettle
Your thick plantations.
Now haud you there, ye’re out o’ sight,
Below the fatt’rels, snug and tight;
Na, faith ye yet! ye’ll no be right,
Till ye’ve got on it-
The verra tapmost, tow’rin height
O’ Miss’ bonnet.
My sooth! right bauld ye set your nose out,
As plump an’ grey as ony groset:
O for some rank, mercurial rozet,
Or fell, red smeddum,
I’d gie you sic a hearty dose o’t,
Wad dress your droddum.
I wad na been surpris’d to spy
You on an auld wife’s flainen toy;
Or aiblins some bit dubbie boy,
On’s wyliecoat;
But Miss’ fine Lunardi! fye!
How daur ye do’t?
O Jenny dinna toss your head,
An’ set your beauties a’ abread!
Ye little ken what cursed speed
The blastie’s makin!
Thae winks and finger-ends, I dread,
Are notice takin!
O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us
An’ foolish notion:
What airs in dress an’ gait wad lea’e us,
And ev’n Devotion!
An English translation
Hey! Where’re you goin’, you crawlin’ vermin?
Your impudence protects you thoroughly,
I cannot say but you swagger rarely
Over gauze and lace,
Though faith! I fear you dine but sparingly
On such a place
You ugly, creepin’, blasted wonder,
Detested, shunned by saint and sinner,
How dare you set your foot upon her –
So fine a lady!
Go somewhere else and seek your dinner
On some poor body
Off! in some beggar’s temple curls squat:
There you may creep, and sprawl, and scramble,
With other kindred, jumping cattle,
In shoals and nations;
Where horn nor bone never dare unsettle
Your thick plantations
Now hold you there! you’re out of sight,
Below the ribbon ends, snug and tight;
No, faith you yet! you will not be right,
Until you have got on it —
The very topmost, towering height
Of the Miss’ bonnet.
My word! right bold you set your nose out,
As plump and gray as any gooseberry:
O for some rank, mercurial resin,
Or deadly, red powder,
I would give you such a hearty dose of it,
Would give your behind a thrashing!
I would not have been surprised to spy
You on an old housewife’s flannel cap:
Or maybe some small ragged boy,
On his undercoat;
But Miss’ fine Lunardi bonnet! flee!
How dare you do it.
O Jenny do not toss your head,
And set your beauties all abroad!
You little know what cursed speed
The blastie’s making!
Those winks and finger-ends, I dread,
Are notice taking!
O would some Power the gift to give us
To see ourselves as others see us!
It would from many a blunder free us,
And foolish notion:
What airs in dress and gait would leave us,
And even devotion!
- FERLIE, n., adj., v.Also ferl(e)y, fairl(e)y, fairli(e), fairely; farl(e)y; fairily, feralie
- I. n. 2. Used contemptuously of a person or animal, sc. vermin; a monstrous creature seen in hallucinations.
- STRUNT, v.2, n.2Also stront.
- I. v. 1. To walk about in a stately or affected manner, to stalk, strut with a bouncing self-confident air.
- SAIR, adj., n., adv.Also sare, saer, †sar.
- I. adj. 7. Of anything unpleasant, untoward or immoderate in gen.: serious, considerable, sad, thoroughgoing. Often used as a simple intensive. Adv. sairlie, -y, very much, thoroughly.
- SIC, adj., pron., adv.
- I. adj. 1. Such
- SWITH, adv., int., adj., v.Also swyth(e), swithe, sweith, swieth.
- I. adv.2. Used exclamatorily, and passing into the usage of II. below.
- II. int. Quick! off! away!, gen. followed by awa(y). Freq. as an order to a dog.
- HAFFET, n.Also haffit; haffat; halfit; hufflit, hufud.
- 1. That part of the head above and in front of the ear; the temple, the cheek.
- 2. Gen. in pl. Locks of hair growing on the temples. Also used attrib. in comb. haffet-lock.
- SQUATTLE, v.
- 1. To lie low, nestle, lie squat, sprawl.
- SPRATTLE, v., n.Also spratle; sprottle.
- I. v. To scramble, struggle, sprawl. Also fig. Vbl.n. sprattling, sprottling.
- FATTERALS, n.pl.Also fatt’rels, fattrels, fatt(e)rils, faderils.
- Ribbon ends, loose pieces of trimming; anything loose and trailing. Rarely in sing.
- SOOTH, n. Eng.
- 1. Truth, Phrs. In truth; really. See Scot. Suith.
- SUITH, n., adj., adv., v.Also suth(e), sith; †sieth; shuith; Sc. forms of Eng. sooth.
- I. n. 1. Truth, verity, in exclam. phrs. (by) my suith, upon my word, to tell the truth, in honest sooth.
- DRODDUM, n. Also drodum.
- The posteriors. Also in n.Cy. dial. Often in phrs. to dress someone’s droddum, to give someone a thrashing, to punish someone, to drim the droddum o’, id., see Drim, v.2
- FY, int. Also fye, fey, fie.
- 1. An exclamation to incite one to hurry; make haste!
- Phrs. and combs.: (1) fy-gae-by, used ludicrously for diarrhœa; (2) fye-gae-ride, expressive of great haste, flurry, urgency; (3) …; (4) fy-gae-to, a fluster, disturbance, ado; (5) fye-haste, a great hurry, used ludicrously.
- BLASTIE, n.
- A shrivelled dwarf, an ill-tempered or unmanageable child or animal, a term of contempt.
- Though Faith!
-
- Colloquial expression of disbelief, surprise, frustration, excitement, or anger, e.g. I don’t know what to say! I’m speechless!
- Probably adopted as an alternative to expressions like God help you, God help me, God only knows, and Lord only knows.
- WYLIECOAT, n. Also wylicoat, wilie-, wil(e)ycoat, weilycoat, weillie-, willy(e)coat, -cote, willy kit; wellycoat, wellicoat; and ne.Sc. forms wallicoat, wa(a)laquyte, wally kwite, wulloquite; and reduced forms wallie, wylie.
- Applied to a garment resembling a frock or smock made of some warm material and worn between the outer clothing and that next the skin.
- 1. A man’s garment: a kind of long under-waistcoat or short undercoat usu. of flannel with sleeves and reaching to the thigh, to give extra warmth in cold weather.
- 3. As worn by children: appar. a sort of frock worn as an outer or under garment.
- BAG LUNARDI, n.
- A hot air balloon. [The Italian Lunardi was the first aerial traveler in England (1784).]