Skip to content
Linespedia

The Hypochondriac.

Topics: classic

I dinna ken what is the maitter wi' Jeams,     He canna get sleepit at nicht for his dreams,     An' aye when he waukens he granes and he screams     Till he fair pits the shakers on me!     Can ye no mak' up somethin' to gie him a sleep?     I'm tellin' ye, doctor, he gars my flesh creep,     Till I'm that fu' o' nerves that the verra least cheep     Noo juist fair pits the shakers on me!     Wi' his meat he was aince a man easy to please,     But last Sabbath he flang the fried ingans an' cheese     That I had for his supper richt into the bleeze,     An' he fair pit the shakers on me!     Then he sat in the ingle an' chowed bogie-roll,     An' read "Jowler's Sermons" an' talked o' his soul,     Faith! conduc' o' that sort's no' easy to thole,     For it fair pits the shakers on me!     He's plenty o' siller, ye're sure o' your fee,     Just gie him a soondin', an' gin he's to dee,     Come oot wi' the truth-dinna fash for a lee,     It'll no' pit the shakers on me!     What! Juist heepocondry? Nocht wrang wi his chest?     The Deil flee awa' wi' the man for a pest!     To think o' me lossin' sae mony nichts' rest     An' him pittin' the shakers on me!     Ay, though he may rout like the bull in the park,     I'se warrant the morn he's on wi' his sark,     An' aff wi' the rest o' the men till his wark,     An' he'll no' pit the shakers on me!

AI analysis available. Enable JavaScript to interact.

About this line

"I dinna ken what is the maitter wi' Jeams,..."

"The Hypochondriac." is a quintessential example of David Rorie M.D.'s signature style... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

Classified Tags

Related lines

"Yersel' is't? Imphm! Man that's bad!     A kin' o' thinness o' the blude?     Gaed aff las' nicht intil a dwam?     Keep's a'! But that's rale"

"As I gang roon' the kintra-side     Amang the young an' auld,     I marvel at the things I see     An' a' the lees I'm tauld.     There's Mist"

"O! can'le licht's baith braw and bricht     At e'en when bars are drawn,     But can'le licht's a dowie sicht     When dwinin' i' the dawn."

"I was gaun to my supper richt hungert an' tired,     A' day I'd been hard at the pleugh;     The snaw wi' the dark'nin' was fast dingin' on,"

"Here morning in the ploughman's songs is met     Ere yet one footstep shows in all the sky,     And twilight in the east, a doubt as yet,     S"

"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

Continue Reading

"Yersel' is't? Imphm! Man that's bad!     A kin' o'..."

Weekly Poetic Insight

Join our literary Sanctuary

Get the most inspiring lines, poetic analysis, and secret shayaris delivered to your inbox every Sunday.