To the Poet's Muse
James Stevenson
O amber bead that comforts men,
Inspirer o' the bardie's pen,
Nae rhymes wad come, words winna flow
Wi'out thy gausie afterglow.
Whilst crabbet loons wi doolfu faces,
Gang thro' their lives wi sullen paces,
Braw birkies a' wi couthie lasses
Ken how to raise their whisky glasses.
Sae heres to ye, the malt, the grain,
The stell, the bottle, trinkling rain
That soaks thro' peat to mak the drink
A-helpin' o' my crambo-clink.
Inspired by Burns was a competition held on Waterstones.com in conjunction with Jura Malt Whisky to mark the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns's birth.
The winner, To the Poet's Muse by James Stevenson, was selected by Andrew O'Hagan, who arranged and edited Canongate's A Night Out with Robert Burns, a selection of Burns's greatest poems, along with fragments and distilled commentary, showing what Robert Burns means to him.
You can also download a PDF of the ten runners-ups' contributions.
