The Slave’s Lament

It was in sweet Senegal
That my foes did me enthrall
For the lands of Virginia, -ginia, O!
Torn from that lovely shore,
And must never see it more,
And alas! I am weary, weary, O!

All on that charming coast
Is no bitter snow and frost,
Like the lands of Virginia, -ginia, O!
There streams for ever flow,
And the flowers for ever blow,
And alas! I am weary, weary, O!

The burden I must bear,
While the cruel scourge I fear,
In the lands of Virginia, -ginia, O!
And I think on friends most dear
With the bitter, bitter tear,
And alas! I am weary, weary, O!

Robert Burns, 1792

In a town that revels in its Scottish heritage – sister cities, the Scottish Games, and December’s Scottish Walk Parade – why does Alexandria not celebrate the poetry of Scottish bard Robert Burns? Abraham Lincoln did! In this the 250th year of Robert Burns’ birth, the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth we remember their literary legacy.
“Born to poverty and obscurity, rising to heights of fame and popularity through long years of hard work, their lives present an interesting parallel,” wrote Lincoln scholars David James Harkness and R. Gerald McMurtry. “It is appropriate that Abe Lincoln should have found a kindred spirit in Rabbie Burns.”
“Lincoln had a photographic memory and Burns’ poems stuck in his mind,” historian Ferenc Szasz wrote. “Both were sons of farmers, wrestled with the Reformed [Calvinist] version of human destiny, had great faith in reason, were often frustrated in love, and professed a profound belief in equality.”
Robert Burns was born January 25, 1759, in Alloway, Scotland, the son of a poor farming family. Self-educated, he studied the three R’s as well as his father’s Manual on Christian Beliefs. Burns wrote his first poem Handsome Nell at age 15, first published his poetry in 1786, and inspired not only Abraham Lincoln but also novelists like John Steinbeck [To A Mouse:Of Mice and Men].
Abraham Lincoln, Illinois lawyer and 16th President of the United States, was born February 25, 1809, in a log cabin in Kentucky. The hard-working son of frontier farmers, he spent his formative years in Indiana. Lincoln learned poetry from his step-mother, attended school “by-littles,” and joined a Springfield Poetical Society in the late 1830s. Like Burns, Lincoln read the Bible and was mostly self-educated.
Lincoln composed his first poem in his youth and wrote his last documented verse in response to the Union victory at Gettysburg. He borrowed much from Burns’ writing, especially the rhythmic beat. From Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address [1865]: “Fondly do we hope – Fervently do we pray – That this mighty scourge of war – May speedily pass away.” Some argue it was the power of Lincoln’s words, not the military’s deeds that won the Civil War.
“He pursued [Burns] so constantly that it is said he now has by heart every line of his favorite poet,” wrote Lincoln biographer William Dean Howells in 1860.
From Robert Burns’ Holy Willie’s Prayer [1785]: “Yet I am here, a chosen sample/To show Thy grace is great and ample:/I'm here a pillar o' Thy temple,/Strong as a rock,/A guide, a buckler, and example/To a' Thy flock!”
From Robert Burns’ Love in the Guise of Friendship [1788]: “Your friendship much can make me blessed -/O, why that bliss destroy/Why urge the only, one request/You know I will deny?/Your thought, if Love must harbour there,/Conceal it in that thought,/Nor cause me from my bosom tear/The very friend I sought.”
From Robert Burns’ A Man’s a Man for A’ That [1795]: “Is there for honest Poverty/ That hings his head, an' a' that;/The coward slave-we pass him by,/We dare be poor for a' that!/For a' that, an' a' that./Our toils obscure an' a' that,/The rank is but the guinea's stamp,/The Man's the gold for a' that.”
“Mr. Lincoln could quote Burns by the hour,” said Illinois attorney and former Lincoln associate Milton Hay. “I have been with him in that little office and heard him recite with the greatest admiration and zest, Burns’ ballads and quaint things. That was one of the sources of his wisdom and wit.”
“Lincoln’s love of Burns’ poetry was so widely known during his presidency that he received many invitations to celebrations on the Scotsman’s birthday,” noted Peter Armenti.
When President Lincoln was asked to toast the bard at the Washington Burns Club’s annual birthday banquet in January 1865, he replied: “I cannot frame a toast to Burns; I can say nothing worthy of his generous heart and transcendent genius. Thinking of what he has said, I cannot say anything which seems worth saying.”
As 2009 passes and the New Year begins, a tip of the Tam O’Shanter to Scotland’s national poet. Wrote Robert Burns in 1788: “Should auld acquaintance be forgot,/And never brought to mind?/Should auld acquaintance be forgot,/And days o' auld lang syne.”
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year! Don’t forget the haggis and beer.

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