Freedom is a noble thing!
Great happiness does freedom bring.
All solace to a man it gives;
He lives at ease that freely lives.
Bk. 1, line 225; p. 53.
The Brus
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George Gordon The Discipline of Letters (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946) p. 88.
Criticism
“Luff is off sa mekill mycht,
That it all paynys makis lych.”
For love is of such potent might
That of misfortune it makes light.
Bk. 2, line 523; p. 80.
The Brus
John Pinkerton, in his edition of The Bruce (London: G. Nicol, 1790) vol. 1, p. x.
Criticism
A story gives delight to read
Though it be fabulous indeed.
Then should a story that is true,
And told in skilful manner too,
Give pleasure that is full twofold.
The first is in the tale as told;
The second is to know full well
That all is true the tale may tell.
Bk. 1, line 1; p. 45.
The Brus
“Thai eyt it with full gud will
That soucht na nother sals thar-till
Bot appetyt.”
With full good will they all fell to,
And sought no other sauce thereto
Than appetite.
Bk. 3, line 539; p. 99.
The Brus
“Although for food they hungered sore
He sent them drink, enough and more!”
Bk. 14, line 363; p. 334.
The Brus
Kenneth Sisam Fourteenth Century Verse and Prose (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1964) p. 108.
Criticism
But he that has been always free
Can ne'er know the reality,
The anguish and the wretched fate
That is a part of thraldom's state.
A thing, when we experience it,
Makes evident its opposite.
If bondage he has ever known,
Then freedom's blessings he will own,
And reckon freedom worth in gold
More than the world will ever hold!
Bk. 1, line 233; p. 53.
The Brus
“Na thar may na man fyr sa covyr
Than low or rek sall it discovyr.”
Nor can a man a fire so cover
That smoke or flame shall not discover.
Bk. 4, line 123; p. 109
The Brus
“He maid thaim na gud fest perfay
And nocht-forthi yneuch had thai.”
Although for food they hungered sore
He sent them drink, enough and more!
Bk. 14, line 363; p. 334.
The Brus
“Men should make merry while they may.”
Men suld mak mirrie quhill thay mocht.
The Buik of Alexander, Part 2, line 4879; translation from Bartlett Jere Whiting and Helen Wescott Whiting Proverbs, Sentences, and Proverbial Phrases (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1968) p. 380.
The attribution of this poem to Barbour is considered doubtful.
Disputed
