Is There, For Honest Poverty

Is there for honest poverty,
Wha hangs his head, and a' that?
The coward slave, we pass him by;
We dare be poor for a' that.
For a' that, and a' that,
Our toils obscure and a' that;
The rank is but the guinea's stamp, -
The man's the gowd for a' that.

What though on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hoddin gray, and a' that;
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine, -
A man's a man for a' that.
For a' that and a' that,
Their tinsel show, and a' that;
The honest man, though e'er sae poor,
Is king o' men for a' that.

Ye see yon birkie ca'd a lord,
Wha struts, and stare, and a' that, -
Though hundreds worship at his word,
He's but a coof for a' that;
For a' that, and a' that,
His riband, star and a' that;
The man of independent mind,
He looks and laughs at a' that.

A prince can make a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, and a' that;
But an honest man's aboon his might, -
Guid faith, he maunna fa' that!
For a' that, and a' that,
Their dignities, and a' that;
The pith o' sense, and pride o' worth,
Are higher ranks that a' that.

Then let us pray that come it may, -
As come it will for a' that, -
That sense and worth, o'er a' the earth,
May bear the gree, and a' that.
For a' that and a' that,
It's coming yet, for a' that, -
When man to man, the warld o'er,
shall brothers be for a' that!
Robert Burns

The video below is pretty good. Just wait for the music.


This song is a personal anthem of mine (Andy Stewart's version is the best, but this one is not bad). I like the spirit of the thing. To know how Burns struggled all his life and how wonderful his songs are is kind of sad. But then, I guess it adds to the power of them to know from whence they came - the man and the land. I can certainly sympathize with Burns as I listened to the wind howl around my crumbling chimney and thought about how my home is falling around my head. "Three o'clock thoughts", I call them , when the world seems bleakest and the litany of problems seems as long as the sea.

"We dare be poor for all that . . . our toils obscure and all that . . . the man is the gold for all that."

I guess many of us are feeling 'honest poverty' and setting ourselves above those bastards in their private jets and silk shirts coming to pretend to beg for money from those they own. Let's hope they get all they deserve.