Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day

If there had been no Robert Burns, what would John Steinbeck have called "Of Mice and Men"? Aye. Think about that. Today, the world marks the 250 anniversary of the birth of the great Scottish bard and Rainy Day is an ardent participant in the Twittering of the occasion. The appeal of Burns lies in his ability to use every register of language, to be serious and witty, to be eloquent and human. Here, he's being playful, but the profundity is not far below the surface.

Epigram On Rough Roads

I'm now arrived — thanks to the gods! —
Thro' pathways rough and muddy,
A certain sign that makin roads
Is no this people's study:
Altho' Im not wi' Scripture cram'd,
I'm sure the Bible says
That heedless sinners shall be damn'd,
Unless they mend their ways.

Robert Burns (1786)