Quote Originally Posted by McClef View Post
Ah the Epistle To Colonel De Peyster!

Here Burns is talking about an ideal world - O what a canty world were it,
Would pain and care and sickness spare it; but the reality is somewhat different. All that roast beef and claret would not be experienced by those who could not afford it. They would not answer the "gratefu' prayer".

Read the whole poem in context.
Context, now you demand context!?