Robert Burns (1759–1796). Poems and Songs.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14.

126 . Lines written on a Bank-note

WAE worth thy power, thou cursed leaf!

Fell source o’ a’ my woe and grief!

For lack o’ thee I’ve lost my lass!

For lack o’ thee I scrimp my glass!

I see the children of affliction

Unaided, through thy curst restriction:

I’ve seen the oppressor’s cruel smile

Amid his hapless victim’s spoil;

And for thy potence vainly wished,

To crush the villain in the dust:

For lack o’ thee, I leave this much-lov’d shore,

Never, perhaps, to greet old Scotland more.

R. B.