robbie burns b'day

"Gary M" wrote in message
...
SNIP

Interesting. You see reflexive devotion where none is present in the
original. The nice thing about poetry is listening to others'
interpretations. I once drank whisky in a hotel on a famous salmon beat
on the Shannon from night till the red before sunrise filled the sky,
discussing with an American, the barman and some locals of the meaning
of the epitaph on WB Yate's headstone -- it's only 2 lines. Yes, there
was some ****e talked that night .

(FWIW, A very literal translation to English of this stanza is:

O would some Power the gift to give us
To see ourselves as others see us!
It would from many a blunder free us,
And foolish notion:
What airs in dress and gait would leave us,
And even devotion!

Of course the antithesis of this is, "People don't think about you
anywhere near as much as you think they do". Both comforting notions.)



Ah well, there is more than a little contoroversy as to the original
meaning, but as you say, each to his own. Poetry, ( or even doggerel!) which
evokes images, but does not bind, is the best, Unfortunately, it is also
quite hard to achieve!

TL
MC