To see oursels as ithers see us!

O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us,
An' foolish notion:
What airs in dress an' gait wad lea'e us,
An' ev'n devotion!

Oh that God, the gift would give us
To see ourselves as others see us!
It would save us from many mistakes,
And foolish thoughts:
We would change the way we look and act,
And even the things we would spend time doing!

--Robert Burns' To A Louse

Labels: Poem