Address to the Shade of Thomson
While virgin Spring by Eden’s flood,Unfolds her tender mantle green,Or pranks the sod in frolic mood,Or tunes Eolian strains between.
While Summer, with a matron grace,Retreats to Dryburgh’s cooling shade,Yet oft, delighted, stops to traceThe progress of the spiky blade.
While Autumn, benefactor kind,By Tweed erects his aged head,And sees, with self-approving mind,Each creature on his bounty fed.
While maniac Winter rages o’erThe hills whence classic Yarrow flows,Rousing the turbid torrent’s roar,Or sweeping, wild, a waste of snows.
So long, sweet Poet of the year!Shall bloom that wreath thou well hast won;While Scotia, with exulting tear,Proclaims that Thomson was her son.
Words in this poem
- eden n.
- The garden where Adam and Eve first dwelt; hence, a delightful region or residence. [Heb. eden delight, pleasure; also, a place of pleasure, Eden.]
- cooling a.
- Adapted to cool and refresh; allaying heat.
- delighted a.
- Endowed with delight.
- spiky a.
- Like a spike; spikelike.
- tweed n.
- A soft and flexible fabric for men's wear, made wholly of wool except in some inferior kinds, the wool being dyed, usually in two colors, before weaving. [Probably a corruption of twills. See Twill.]
- approving a.
- Expressing approbation; commending; as, an approving smile.
- bounty n.
- Goodness, kindness; virtue; worth. [OE. bounte goodness, kindness, F. bonté, fr. L. bonitas, fr. bonus good, for older duonus; cf. Skr. duvas honor, respect.]
- maniac a.
- Raving with madness; raging with disordered intellect; affected with mania; mad. [F. maniaque. See Mania.]
- classic a.
- Of or relating to the first class or rank, especially in literature or art. [L. classicus relating to the classes of the Roman people, and especially to the frist class; hence, of the first rank, superior, from classis class: cf. F. clas]
- yarrow n.
- An American and European composite plant (Achillea Millefolium) with very finely dissected leaves and small white corymbed flowers. [OE. yarowe, yarwe, ýarowe, AS. gearwe; akin to D. gerw, OHG. garwa, garawa, G. garbe, schafgarbe, and perhaps to E. yare.]
- 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,]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- scotia n.
- A concave molding used especially in classical architecture. [L., fr. Gr. skoti`a darkness, a sunken molding in the base of a pillar, so called from the dark shadow it casts, from sko`tos darkness.]
- exulting a.
- Rejoicing triumphantly or exceedingly; exultant.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Address to the Shade of Thomson 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, Address to the Shade of Thomson, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/address-to-the-shade-of-thomson.html, id L03249.
Form and metre
Address to the Shade of Thomson is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 10% 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 -A-A flood · greenA · mood · betweenA
- 2 ABAB graceA · shadeB · traceA · bladeB
- 3 ABAB kindA · headB · mindA · fedB
- 4 -A-A o'er · flowsA · roar · snowsA
- 5 ABAB yearA · wonB · tearA · sonB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| While virgin Spring by Eden’s flood, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Unfolds her tender mantle green, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Or pranks the sod in frolic mood, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or tunes Eolian strains between. | 9 | ··˘/˘˘··· |
| While Summer, with a matron grace, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Retreats to Dryburgh’s cooling shade, | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Yet oft, delighted, stops to trace | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| The progress of the spiky blade. | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| While Autumn, benefactor kind, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘· |
| By Tweed erects his aged head, | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| And sees, with self-approving mind, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Each creature on his bounty fed. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| While maniac Winter rages o’er | 9 | ·/˘·/˘/˘· |
| The hills whence classic Yarrow flows, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Rousing the turbid torrent’s roar, | 8 | /˘·/˘/˘· |
| Or sweeping, wild, a waste of snows. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| So long, sweet Poet of the year! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Shall bloom that wreath thou well hast won; | 8 | ········ |
| While Scotia, with exulting tear, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Proclaims that Thomson was her son. | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
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