THE AMBITIOUS MITE.
A FABLE. ______ 1 WHEN hope persuades, and fame inspires us, 2 And pride with warm ambition fires us, 3 Let Reason instant seize the bridle, 4 And wrest us frae the Passions’ guidal; 5 Else, like the Hero of our fable, 6 We’ll aft be plung’d into a habble. 7 ’Twas on a bonny simmer day, 8 When a’ the insect tribes war’ gay, 9 Some journeying o’er the leaves o’ roses, 10 Some brushing thrang their wings an’ noses, 11 Some wallowing sweet in bramble blossom, 12 In luxury’s saft downy bosom; 13 While ithers of a lower order, 14 Were perch’d on plantain leaf’s smooth border, 15 Wha frae their twa-inch steeps look’d down, 16 An’ view’d the kintra far aroun’. 17 Ae pridefu’ elf amang the rest, 18 Wha’s pin-point heart bumpt ’gainst his breast, 19 To work some mighty deed of fame, 20 That wou’d immortalize his name; 21 Thro’ future hours wou’d hand him down, 22 The wonder of an afternoon; 23 (For ae short day wi’ them appears, 24 As lang’s our lengthen’d hunder years.) 25 By chance, at hand, a bow’d horse-hair 26 Stood up six inches high in air; 27 He plan’d to climb this lofty arch, 28 Wi’ philosophic deep research, 29 To prove (which aft perplex’d their heads) 30 What people peopl’d ither blades, 31 Or from keen observation, show, 32 Whether they peopl’d were or no. 33 Our tiny hero onward hies, 34 Quite big with daring enterprize, 35 Ascends the hair’s curvatur’d side, 36 Now pale with fear, now red with pride, 37 Now hangin’ pend’lous by the claw, 38 Now glad at having ’scaped a fa’: 39 What horrid dangers he came thro’, 40 Wou’d trifling seem for man to know; 41 Suffice, at length he reach’d the top, 42 The summit of his pride and hope, 43 And on his elevated station, 44 Had plac’d himsel’ for observation, 45 When puff—the wind did end the matter, 46 And dash’d him in a horse-hoof gutter. 47 Sae let the lesson gi’en us here, 48 Keep each within his proper sphere, 49 And when our fancies tak’ their flght, 50 Think on the wee ambitious mite. |
4. frae: Sc. form of Eng from. 4. guidal: n. direction, control, handling, management. 6. aft: oft. 6. habble: A difficulty, state of muddle or perplexity, "fix," tangle. Confusion, uproar, hubbub. 7. bonny: beautiful, pretty, fair; handsome, attractive; a term of endearment. 7. simmer: Sc. form of Eng summer 10. thrang: throng; of persons, pressed closely against each other. 12. saft: Sc. form of Eng. soft. 13. ithers: Sc. form of Eng. others. 15. twa-inch: To / two (any number); the singular may be used for the plural after numbers. 16. kintra: country. 17. ae: adds emphasis before a superlative; the number one; an approximation before numbers; ae and ane = one and the same. 17. amang: Sc. form of Eng. among, but meaning more often resembles that of amid, amidst, or in. 24. hunder: Sc. form of Eng. hundred. |