Apparitions > Aloway Kirk, or, Tam o' Shanter, a tale

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■ sonsie lass.” He says, “ she alto¬
gether, unwittingly to herself, initi¬
ated me in that delicious passion,
which, in spite of acid disappoint¬
ment, gin-horse prudence, and luke
' warm philosophy, I hold to be the
first qf human joys ^ our dearest bles¬
sing here below. Indeed, 1 did not
know myself why I liked so much
to loiter behind with her, when re¬
turning in the evening from our la¬
bours ; why the tones of her voice
made my heart-strings thrill, like a
rEoli^n harp ; and particularly,
why my pulse beat such a furious
ratan, when I looked and fingered
over her little hand, to pick out the
cruel nettle stings and thistles.
“ Thus,” says he, “ with me be¬
gan love & poetry -, which at times
have been my only, and till within
the last twelve months, my highest
enjoyment.
In the course of the poet’s life he
’--was received at the tables of the