Classic Poem

I.

Come East and West like brithers 'gree,
And canty sing along wi' me
The pleesures that in ART there be,
Wi' a' its variorum.
For new an' auld are only names;
Auld an' new, auld an' new —
New an' auld are only names,
Baith needed in the quorum.
They shouldna be a cause o' spite,
For every style has some delight;
Then each the other, haste, invite
To share a merry jorum .

II.

Academies are but a pest —
Elections keen and a' the rest,
That friendship gies sae sair a test:
May some ill win' blaw owr them.
The ballot box and every vote,
Every vote, every vote —
Ballot box and every vote;
What decent man can thole them!
They 're only means to cheat the mind,
They never make an honest find,
In fairness they are but a blind —
In conscience I abhor them!

III.

The Goddess ART maun shürely smile
In wonder at the silly guile
Of artists that wi' laws compile
A thing they ca' Academy —
An inartistic, senseless thing,
Inartistic, inartistic —
Senseless, inartistic thing:
The thing they ca' Academy .
It 's full o' ills when at the best,
Sends jealous hate to every breast,
And for Art's sake gives peace nor rest —
Nae guid comes o' Academy .

IV.

Come painter lads and sculptors too,
And architects , ye kittle crew!
We 'll practise Art wi' less ado
Anent the Scots Academy:
And politics o' baith the schools
East and West, West and East —
Politics o' baith the schools,
That vex the Scots Academy .
We 'll cast aside the wretched strife,
For rank and place that 's now so rife;
We 'll vow for ART a better life —
And damn the Scots Academy .