A Poet’s Welcome to His Love-Begotten Daughter
The First Instance That Entitled Him ToThe Venerable Appellation Of Father
Thou’s welcome, wean; mishanter fa’ me,If thoughts o’ thee, or yet thy mamie,Shall ever daunton me or awe me,My bonie lady,Or if I blush when thou shalt ca’ meTyta or daddie.
Tho’ now they ca’ me fornicator,An’ tease my name in kintry clatter,The mair they talk, I’m kent the better,E’en let them clash;An auld wife’s tongue’s a feckless matterTo gie ane fash.
Welcome! my bonie, sweet, wee dochter,Tho’ ye come here a wee unsought for,And tho’ your comin’ I hae fought for,Baith kirk and queir;Yet, by my faith, ye’re no unwrought for,That I shall swear!
Wee image o’ my bonie Betty,As fatherly I kiss and daut thee,As dear, and near my heart I set theeWi’ as gude willAs a’ the priests had seen me get theeThat’s out o’ hell.
Sweet fruit o’ mony a merry dint,My funny toil is now a’ tint,Sin’ thou came to the warl’ asklent,Which fools may scoff at;In my last plack thy part’s be in’tThe better ha’f o’t.
Tho’ I should be the waur bestead,Thou’s be as braw and bienly clad,And thy young years as nicely bredWi’ education,As ony brat o’ wedlock’s bed,In a’ thy station.
Lord grant that thou may aye inheritThy mither’s person, grace, an’ merit,An’ thy poor, worthless daddy’s spirit,Without his failins,’Twill please me mair to see thee heir it,Than stockit mailens.
For if thou be what I wad hae thee,And tak the counsel I shall gie thee,I’ll never rue my trouble wi’ thee,The cost nor shame o’t,But be a loving father to thee,And brag the name o’t.
Words in this poem 20
- appellation n.
- The act of appealing; appeal. [L. appellatio, fr. appellare: cf. F. appellation. See Appeal.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- fornicator n.
- An unmarried person, male or female, who has criminal intercourse with the other sex; one guilty of fornication. [F. fornicateur, OF. fornicator, from L. fornicator.]
- clatter v. i.
- To make a rattling sound by striking hard bodies together; to make a succession of abrupt, rattling sounds. [AS. cla a rattle, akin to D. klateren to rattle. Cf. Clack.]
- auld a.
- Old; as, Auld Reekie (old smoky), i. e., Edinburgh. [See Old.]
- feckless a.
- Spiritless; weak; worthless. [Perh. a corruption of effectless.]
- fash v. t.
- To vex; to tease; to trouble. [OF. faschier, F. f, to anger, vex; cf. Pr. fasticar, fastigar, fr. L. fastidium dilike. See Fastidious.]
- kirk n.
- A church or the church, in the various senses of the word; esp., the Church of Scotland as distinguished from other reformed churches, or from the Roman Catholic Church. Jamieson. [Scot.; cf. Icel. kirkja, of Greek origin. See Church.]
- betty n.
- Etym: [Supposed to be a cant word, from Betty, for Elizabeth, as such an instrument is also called Bess (i. e., Elizabeth) in the Canting Dictionary of 1725, and Jenny (i. e., Jane).]
- fatherly a.
- Like a father in affection and care; paternal; tender; protecting; careful.
- dint n.
- A blow; a stroke. [OE. dint, dent, dunt, a blow, AS. dynt; akin to Icel. dyntr a dint, dynta to dint, and perh. to L. fendere (in composition). Cf. 1st Dent, Defend.]
- funny a.
- Droll; comical; amusing; laughable. Funny bone. See crazy bone, under Crazy. [From Fun.]
- plack n.
- A small copper coin formerly current in Scotland, worth less than a cent. [F. plaque a plate of metal. Cf. Plaque.]
- bestead v. t.
- To put in a certain situation or condition; to circumstance; to place. [Only in p. p.] [Pref. be- + stead a place.]
- braw a.
- Well-dressed; handsome; smart; brave; -- used of persons or their clothing, etc.; as, a braw lad.
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- brat n.
- A coarse garnment or cloak; also, coarse clothing, in general. [OE. bratt coarse garnment, AS. bratt cloak, fr. the Celtic; cf. W. brat clout, rag, Gael. brat cloak, apron, raf, Ir. brat cloak; properly then, a child's bib o]
- daddy n.
- Diminutive of Dad.
- twill v. i.
- To weave, as cloth, so as to produce the appearance of diagonal lines or ribs on the surface. [Scotch tweel; probably from LG. twillen to make double, from twi- two; akin to AS. twi-, E. twi- in twilight. See Twice, and cf. Tweed, Tweel.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Poet’s Welcome to His Love-Begotten Daughter is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems and Songs of Robert Burns, Project Gutenberg ebook #1279; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Robert Burns, A Poet’s Welcome to His Love-Begotten Daughter, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/a-poet-s-welcome-to-his-love-begotten-daughter.html, id L02956.
Form and metre
A Poet’s Welcome to His Love-Begotten Daughter is 50 lines in 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.4 syllables. 13 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 20% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 2 A-A-A- meA · mamie · meA · lady · meA · daddie
- 3 -A-BAB fornicator · clatterA · better · clashB · matterA · fashB
- 4 -AA-A- dochter · forA · forA · queir · forA · swear
- 5 -AA-A- betty · theeA · theeA · will · theeA · hell
- 6 AAA-A- dintA · tintA · asklentA · at · in'tA · o't
- 7 A-ABAB besteadA · clad · bredA · educationB · bedA · stationB
- 8 AA--A- inheritA · meritA · spirit · failins · itA · mailens
- 9 AAAAAA theeA · theeA · theeA · o'tA · theeA · o'tA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The First Instance That Entitled Him To | 10 | ··/˘·˘/˘·· |
| The Venerable Appellation Of Father | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘·/˘ |
| Thou’s welcome, wean; mishanter fa’ me, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| If thoughts o’ thee, or yet thy mamie, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Shall ever daunton me or awe me, | 8 | ·/······ |
| My bonie lady, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Or if I blush when thou shalt ca’ me | 9 | ········· |
| Tyta or daddie. | 5 | ····· |
| Tho’ now they ca’ me fornicator, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| An’ tease my name in kintry clatter, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| The mair they talk, I’m kent the better, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| E’en let them clash; | 4 | ···· |
| An auld wife’s tongue’s a feckless matter | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| To gie ane fash. | 4 | ···· |
| Welcome! my bonie, sweet, wee dochter, | 9 | /˘······· |
| Tho’ ye come here a wee unsought for, | 9 | ········· |
| And tho’ your comin’ I hae fought for, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Baith kirk and queir; | 4 | ···· |
| Yet, by my faith, ye’re no unwrought for, | 9 | ········· |
| That I shall swear! | 4 | ···· |
| Wee image o’ my bonie Betty, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| As fatherly I kiss and daut thee, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| As dear, and near my heart I set thee | 9 | ········· |
| Wi’ as gude will | 4 | ···· |
| As a’ the priests had seen me get thee | 9 | ········· |
| That’s out o’ hell. | 4 | ···· |
| Sweet fruit o’ mony a merry dint, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| My funny toil is now a’ tint, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Sin’ thou came to the warl’ asklent, | 8 | ········ |
| Which fools may scoff at; | 5 | ····· |
| In my last plack thy part’s be in’t | 8 | ········ |
| The better ha’f o’t. | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Tho’ I should be the waur bestead, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Thou’s be as braw and bienly clad, | 8 | ········ |
| And thy young years as nicely bred | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Wi’ education, | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| As ony brat o’ wedlock’s bed, | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| In a’ thy station. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Lord grant that thou may aye inherit | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Thy mither’s person, grace, an’ merit, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| An’ thy poor, worthless daddy’s spirit, | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| Without his failins, | 5 | ····· |
| ’Twill please me mair to see thee heir it, | 9 | ········· |
| Than stockit mailens. | 5 | ····· |
| For if thou be what I wad hae thee, | 9 | ········· |
| And tak the counsel I shall gie thee, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| I’ll never rue my trouble wi’ thee, | 8 | ·/··/˘·· |
| The cost nor shame o’t, | 5 | ····· |
| But be a loving father to thee, | 9 | ···/˘/˘·· |
| And brag the name o’t. | 5 | ····· |
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