Robert Burns Sylvander and Clarinda

Annotation

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. No. Had that been indeed the beginning, the end would have been quite other than it is. Rather did their story begin twenty-eight years before, with the birth of this man and this 'woman who came toward each other from such difierent social spheres, trailing not clouds of glory but the rags of sordid experience and ruined hope. Life had already marred them both - and for all that is to follow, let the first stone be cast by the one who is near enough divinity to make into holy stigmata the scars of his own sin and folly. Only, a stone would never come from such a hand.