ALL villain as I ama damn?d wretch,
A hardened, stubborn, unrepenting villain,
Still my heart melts at human wretchedness;
And with sincere but unavailing sighs
I view the helpless children of distress:
With tears indignant I behold the oppressor
Rejoicing in the honest mans destruction,
Whose unsubmitting heart was all his crime.
Evn you, ye hapless crew! I pity you;
Ye, whom the seeming good think sin to pity;
Ye poor, despised, abandoned vagabonds,
Whom Vice, as usual, has turnd oer to ruin.
Oh! but for friends and interposing Heaven,
I had been driven forth like you forlorn,
The most detested, worthless wretch among you!
O injured God! Thy goodness has endowd me
With talents passing most of my compeers,
Which I in just proportion have abused
As far surpassing other common villains
As Thou in natural parts has given me more.
5. Tragic FragmentAll villain as I am
written byRobert Burns
© Robert Burns