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Extempore in the Court of Session

by Robert Burns, 1787

Lord advocate


he clenched his pamphlet in his fist,
  He quoted and he hinted,
Till, in a declamation-mist,
  His argument he tint it:
He gapèd for't, he grapèd for't,
  He fand it was awa, man;
But what his common sense came short,
  He eked out wi' law, man.


Mr. ERSKINE


Collected, Harry stood awee,
  Then open'd out his arm, man;
His Lordship sat wi' ruefu' e'e,
  And ey'd the gathering storm, man:
Like wind-driven hail it did assail'
  Or torrents owre a lin, man:
The bench sae wise, lift up their eyes,
  Half-wauken'd wi' the din, man.

Published in Poems and Songs of Robert Burns
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