Saturday, January 26, 2013

Follow-up to Robert Burns Day 2013

One stanza from "To A Louse" by Robert Burns:

O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae mony a blunder free us,
An' foolish notion:
What airs in dress an' gait wad lea'e us,
An' ev'n devotion!

My English translation:
Oh, if only God would give us the power
To see ourselves as others see us!
It would free us from many blunders
And foolish notions:
What presumption of fashion and posture would leave us,
Even pretentious prayers would be gone.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Glad you translated that for me, Keith!