Hard Luck
Hard Luck
Original Text
James Anderson, Sawney's Letters and Cariboo Rhymes
(Toronto: W. S. Johnson, 1895): 23-24. Internet Archive
1Last night I sat and watch'd
2Beside a comrade's bed--
3An' a' was still, within an' out,
4Save the watch-beat overhead;
5My thochts gaed back and fore,
7Till a' resolved to this at last,
8"Was ever luck like mine?"
9A voice then struck my ear--
11In words I couldna choose but hear,
12And "helpless," thrice did say;
13I mark'd the sufferer's face,
15A taunting spirit in me asked,
16"Was ever luck like thine?"
17This touch'd me to the heart--
18I weaken'd richt awa--
21And sae a lesson's taught,
23However hard your lot may be,
Notes
6] "ould lang syne": Robert Burns's phrase, "long time gone by." Back to Line
10] wae: woe(ful). Back to Line
14] ilka: each. Back to Line
19] thole: endure. Back to Line
20] ava: at all. Back to Line
22] tine: complain, moan. Back to Line
24] ithers waur: others worse. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1868
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2011
Rhyme
Form