“Na he that ay has levyt fre
May nocht knaw weill the propyrte
The angyr na the wrechyt dome
That is couplyt to foule thyrldome,
Bot gyff he had assayit it.
Than all perquer he suld it wyt,
And suld think fredome mar to prys
Than all the gold in warld that is.”

— John Barbour

But he that has been always free
Can ne'er know the reality,
The anguish and the wretched fate
That is a part of thraldom's state.
A thing, when we experience it,
Makes evident its opposite.
If bondage he has ever known,
Then freedom's blessings he will own,
And reckon freedom worth in gold
More than the world will ever hold!
Bk. 1, line 233; p. 53.
The Brus

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John Barbour12

Scottish poet 1316–1395

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