A Vision
As I stood by yon roofless tower,Where the wa’flower scents the dewy air,Where the howlet mourns in her ivy bower,And tells the midnight moon her care.
The winds were laid, the air was still,The stars they shot alang the sky;The fox was howling on the hill,And the distant echoing glens reply.
The stream, adown its hazelly path,Was rushing by the ruin’d wa’s,Hasting to join the sweeping Nith,Whase distant roaring swells and fa’s.
The cauld blae North was streaming forthHer lights, wi’ hissing, eerie din;Athwart the lift they start and shift,Like Fortune’s favors, tint as win.
By heedless chance I turn’d mine eyes,And, by the moonbeam, shook to seeA stern and stalwart ghaist arise,Attir’d as Minstrels wont to be.
Had I a statue been o’ stane,His daring look had daunted me;And on his bonnet grav’d was plain,The sacred posy—“Libertie!”
And frae his harp sic strains did flow,Might rous’d the slumb’ring Dead to hear;But oh, it was a tale of woe,As ever met a Briton’s ear!
He sang wi’ joy his former day,He, weeping, wailed his latter times;But what he said—it was nae play,I winna venture’t in my rhymes.
Words in this poem
- roofless a.
- Having no roof; as, a roofless house.
- howlet n.
- An owl; an owlet. R. Browning. [Equiv. to owlet, influenced by howl: cf. F. hulotte, OHG. h, hiuwela.]
- adown adv.
- From a higher to a lower situation; downward; down, to or on the ground. [OE. adun, adoun, adune. AS. of dune off the hill. See Down.]
- hazelly a.
- Of the color of the hazelnut; of a light brown. Mortimer.
- streaming a.
- Sending forth streams.
- eerie a.
- Serving to inspire fear, esp. a dread of seeing ghosts; wild; weird; as, eerie stories. [Scotch, fr. AS. earh timid.]
- moonbeam n.
- A ray of light from the moon.
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- stalwart a.
- Brave; bold; strong; redoubted; daring; vehement; violent. [OE. stalworth, AS. stælwyrth serviceable, probably originally, good at stealing, or worth stealing or taking, and afterwards extended to other causes of estimat]
- posy n.
- A brief poetical sentiment; hence, any brief sentiment, motto, or legend; especially, one inscribed on a ring. [Contr. fr. poesy.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Vision 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 Vision, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/a-vision.html, id L03349.
Form and metre
A Vision is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 5 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 6% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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.
- 1 ABAB towerA · airB · bowerA · careB
- 2 ABAB stillA · skyB · hillA · replyB
- 3 A-A- pathA · wa's · nithA · fa's
- 4 -A-A forth · dinA · shift · winA
- 5 ABAB eyesA · seeB · ariseA · beB
- 6 A-A- staneA · me · plainA · libertie
- 7 ABAB flowA · hearB · woeA · earB
- 8 ABAB dayA · timesB · playA · rhymesB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| As I stood by yon roofless tower, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Where the wa’flower scents the dewy air, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Where the howlet mourns in her ivy bower, | 10 | ··/˘···/˘/ |
| And tells the midnight moon her care. | 8 | ···/···· |
| The winds were laid, the air was still, | 8 | ········ |
| The stars they shot alang the sky; | 8 | ········ |
| The fox was howling on the hill, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And the distant echoing glens reply. | 9 | ··/˘/˘·˘/ |
| The stream, adown its hazelly path, | 9 | ··˘/·/˘˘· |
| Was rushing by the ruin’d wa’s, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Hasting to join the sweeping Nith, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Whase distant roaring swells and fa’s. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The cauld blae North was streaming forth | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Her lights, wi’ hissing, eerie din; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Athwart the lift they start and shift, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Like Fortune’s favors, tint as win. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| By heedless chance I turn’d mine eyes, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And, by the moonbeam, shook to see | 8 | ···/···· |
| A stern and stalwart ghaist arise, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Attir’d as Minstrels wont to be. | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Had I a statue been o’ stane, | 8 | ···/···· |
| His daring look had daunted me; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And on his bonnet grav’d was plain, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The sacred posy—“Libertie!” | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And frae his harp sic strains did flow, | 8 | ········ |
| Might rous’d the slumb’ring Dead to hear; | 8 | ········ |
| But oh, it was a tale of woe, | 8 | ········ |
| As ever met a Briton’s ear! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| He sang wi’ joy his former day, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| He, weeping, wailed his latter times; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But what he said—it was nae play, | 8 | ········ |
| I winna venture’t in my rhymes. | 9 | ········· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.