Address to the Unco Guid, or the Rigidly Righteous
My Son, these maxims make a rule,An’ lump them aye thegither;The Rigid Righteous is a fool,The Rigid Wise anither:The cleanest corn that ere was dightMay hae some pyles o’ caff in;So ne’er a fellow-creature slightFor random fits o’ daffin.
O ye wha are sae guid yoursel’,Sae pious and sae holy,Ye’ve nought to do but mark and tellYour neibours’ fauts and folly!Whase life is like a weel-gaun mill,Supplied wi’ store o’ water;The heaped happer’s ebbing still,An’ still the clap plays clatter.
Hear me, ye venerable core,As counsel for poor mortalsThat frequent pass douce Wisdom’s doorFor glaikit Folly’s portals:I, for their thoughtless, careless sakes,Would here propone defences—Their donsie tricks, their black mistakes,Their failings and mischances.
Ye see your state wi’ theirs compared,And shudder at the niffer;But cast a moment’s fair regard,What maks the mighty differ;Discount what scant occasion gave,That purity ye pride in;And (what’s aft mair than a’ the lave),Your better art o’ hidin.
Think, when your castigated pulseGies now and then a wallop!What ragings must his veins convulse,That still eternal gallop!Wi’ wind and tide fair i’ your tail,Right on ye scud your sea-way;But in the teeth o’ baith to sail,It maks a unco lee-way.
See Social Life and Glee sit down,All joyous and unthinking,Till, quite transmugrified, they’re grownDebauchery and Drinking:O would they stay to calculateTh’ eternal consequences;Or your more dreaded hell to state,Damnation of expenses!
Ye high, exalted, virtuous dames,Tied up in godly laces,Before ye gie poor Frailty names,Suppose a change o’ cases;A dear-lov’d lad, convenience snug,A treach’rous inclination—But let me whisper i’ your lug,Ye’re aiblins nae temptation.
Then gently scan your brother man,Still gentler sister woman;Tho’ they may gang a kennin wrang,To step aside is human:One point must still be greatly dark,—The moving Why they do it;And just as lamely can ye mark,How far perhaps they rue it.
Who made the heart, ’tis He aloneDecidedly can try us;He knows each chord, its various tone,Each spring, its various bias:Then at the balance let’s be mute,We never can adjust it;What’s done we partly may compute,But know not what’s resisted.
Words in this poem 19
- dight v. t.
- To prepare; to put in order; hence, to dress, or put on; to array; to adorn. [OF. dihten, AS. dihtan to dictate, command, dispose, arrange, fr. L. dictare to say often, dictate, order; cf. G. dichten to write poetry, fr. L. dictare. See D]
- weel
- A kind of trap or snare for fish, made of twigs. Carew. [Prov. E. weel, weal, a wicker basket to catch eels; prob. akin to willow, and so called as made of willow twigs.]
- 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.]
- douce a.
- Sweet; pleasant. [F. doux, masc., douce, fem., sweet, fr. L. duleis sweet.]
- propone v. t.
- To propose; to bring forward. [L. proponere to propose. See Propound.]
- lave v. t.
- To lade, dip, or pour out. [OE. laven. See Lavish.]
- wallop v. i.
- To move quickly, but with great effort; to gallop. [Prov. Eng. [Cf. OFlem. walop a gallop; of uncertain origin. Cf. Gallop.]
- convulse v. t.
- To contract violently and irregulary, as the muscular parts of an animal body; to shake with irregular spasms, as in excessive laughter, or in agony from grief or pain. [L. convulsus, p.p. of convellere to tear up, to shake; con- + vellere to pluck, pull.]
- scud v. i.
- To move swiftly; especially, to move as if driven forward by something. [Dan. skyde to shoot, shove, push, akin to skud shot, gunshot, a shoot, young bough, and to E. shoot. sq. root159. See Shoot.]
- unco a.
- Unknown; strange, or foreign; unusual, or surprising; distant in manner; reserved. [Scot. The same word as E. uncouth.]
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
- unthinking a.
- Not thinking; not heedful; thoughtless; inconsiderate; as, unthinking youth.
- damnation n.
- The state of being damned; condemnation; openly expressed disapprobation. [F. damnation, L. damnatio, fr. damnare. See Damn.]
- virtuous a.
- Possessing or exhibiting virtue. Specifically: -- (a) Exhibiting manly courage and strength; valorous; valiant; brave. [OE. vertuous, OF. vertuos, vertuous, F. vertueux, fr. L. Virtuous. See Virtue, and cf. Virtuoso.]
- frailty n.
- The condition quality of being frail, physically, mentally, or morally, frailness; infirmity; weakness of resolution; liableness to be deceived or seduced. [OE. frelete, freilte, OF. fraileté, fr. L. fragilitas. See Frail, a., and cf. Fragility.]
- aiblins adv.
- Perhaps; possibly. Burns. [See Able.]
- scan v. t.
- To mount by steps; to go through with step by step. [L. scandere, scansum, to climb, to scan, akin to Skr. skand to spring, leap: cf. F. scander. Cf. Ascend, Descend, Scale a ladder.]
- lamely adv.
- An a lame, crippled, disabled, or imperfect manner; as, to walk lamely; a figure lamely drawn. [See Lame.]
- decidedly adv.
- In a decided manner; indisputably; clearly; thoroughly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Address to the Unco Guid, or the Rigidly Righteous 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 Unco Guid, or the Rigidly Righteous, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/address-to-the-unco-guid-or-the-rigidly-righteous.html, id L03014.
Form and metre
Address to the Unco Guid, or the Rigidly Righteous is 72 lines in 9 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.5 syllables. 23 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 12% 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 ABABC-C- ruleA · thegitherB · foolA · anitherB · dightC · in · slightC · daffin
- 2 ----A-A- yoursel · holy · tell · folly · millA · water · stillA · clatter
- 3 ABABC-C- coreA · mortalsB · doorA · portalsB · sakesC · defences · mistakesC · mischances
- 4 -A-AB-B- compared · nifferA · regard · differA · gaveB · in · laveB · hidin
- 5 A-A-BCBC pulseA · wallop · convulseA · gallop · tailB · wayC · sailB · wayC
- 6 -A-ABCBC down · unthinkingA · grown · drinkingA · calculateB · consequencesC · stateB · expensesC
- 7 ABABCDCD damesA · lacesB · namesA · casesB · snugC · inclinationD · lugC · temptationD
- 8 AA-ABCBC manA · womanA · wrang · humanA · darkB · itC · markB · itC
- 9 ABABC-C- aloneA · usB · toneA · biasB · muteC · it · computeC · resisted
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 |
|---|---|---|
| My Son, these maxims make a rule, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An’ lump them aye thegither; | 7 | ······· |
| The Rigid Righteous is a fool, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The Rigid Wise anither: | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| The cleanest corn that ere was dight | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| May hae some pyles o’ caff in; | 7 | ······· |
| So ne’er a fellow-creature slight | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| For random fits o’ daffin. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| O ye wha are sae guid yoursel’, | 8 | ········ |
| Sae pious and sae holy, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Ye’ve nought to do but mark and tell | 8 | ········ |
| Your neibours’ fauts and folly! | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Whase life is like a weel-gaun mill, | 8 | ········ |
| Supplied wi’ store o’ water; | 7 | ˘/···/˘ |
| The heaped happer’s ebbing still, | 8 | ··˘··/˘· |
| An’ still the clap plays clatter. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Hear me, ye venerable core, | 8 | ···/˘˘˘· |
| As counsel for poor mortals | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| That frequent pass douce Wisdom’s door | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| For glaikit Folly’s portals: | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| I, for their thoughtless, careless sakes, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Would here propone defences— | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| Their donsie tricks, their black mistakes, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Their failings and mischances. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Ye see your state wi’ theirs compared, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And shudder at the niffer; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| But cast a moment’s fair regard, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| What maks the mighty differ; | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Discount what scant occasion gave, | 8 | ˘/··˘/˘· |
| That purity ye pride in; | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| And (what’s aft mair than a’ the lave), | 8 | ········ |
| Your better art o’ hidin. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Think, when your castigated pulse | 8 | ···/˘·˘· |
| Gies now and then a wallop! | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| What ragings must his veins convulse, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| That still eternal gallop! | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| Wi’ wind and tide fair i’ your tail, | 8 | ········ |
| Right on ye scud your sea-way; | 7 | ······· |
| But in the teeth o’ baith to sail, | 8 | ········ |
| It maks a unco lee-way. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| See Social Life and Glee sit down, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| All joyous and unthinking, | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Till, quite transmugrified, they’re grown | 7 | ······· |
| Debauchery and Drinking: | 7 | ˘/˘˘·/˘ |
| O would they stay to calculate | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Th’ eternal consequences; | 7 | ˘/˘/˘·˘ |
| Or your more dreaded hell to state, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Damnation of expenses! | 7 | ˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Ye high, exalted, virtuous dames, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Tied up in godly laces, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Before ye gie poor Frailty names, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Suppose a change o’ cases; | 7 | ˘/···/˘ |
| A dear-lov’d lad, convenience snug, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| A treach’rous inclination— | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| But let me whisper i’ your lug, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Ye’re aiblins nae temptation. | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Then gently scan your brother man, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Still gentler sister woman; | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| Tho’ they may gang a kennin wrang, | 8 | ········ |
| To step aside is human: | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| One point must still be greatly dark,— | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The moving Why they do it; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| And just as lamely can ye mark, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| How far perhaps they rue it. | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| Who made the heart, ’tis He alone | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Decidedly can try us; | 7 | ˘/˘˘··· |
| He knows each chord, its various tone, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Each spring, its various bias: | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| Then at the balance let’s be mute, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| We never can adjust it; | 7 | ·/˘·˘/· |
| What’s done we partly may compute, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| But know not what’s resisted. | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
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