Come, Let Me Take Thee to My Breast
Come, let me take thee to my breast,And pledge we ne’er shall sunder;And I shall spurn as vilest dustThe world’s wealth and grandeur:And do I hear my Jeanie ownThat equal transports move her?I ask for dearest life alone,That I may live to love her.
Thus, in my arms, wi’ a’ her charms,I clasp my countless treasure;I’ll seek nae main o’ Heav’n to share,Tha sic a moment’s pleasure:And by thy e’en sae bonie blue,I swear I’m thine for ever!And on thy lips I seal my vow,And break it shall I never.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- spurn v. t.
- To drive back or away, as with the foot; to kick. [OE. spurnen to kick against, to stumble over, AS. spurnan to kick, offend; akin to spura spur, OS. & OHG. spurnan to kick, Icel. spyrna, L. spernere to despise,]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- countless a.
- Incapable of being counted; not ascertainable; innumerable.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Come, Let Me Take Thee to My Breast 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, Come, Let Me Take Thee to My Breast, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/come-let-me-take-thee-to-my-breast.html, id L03333.
Form and metre
Come, Let Me Take Thee to My Breast is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.4 syllables. 5 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 ----ABAB breast · sunder · dust · grandeur · ownA · herB · aloneA · herB
- 2 -A-A-B-B charms · treasureA · share · pleasureA · blue · everB · vow · neverB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Come, let me take thee to my breast, | 8 | ········ |
| And pledge we ne’er shall sunder; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And I shall spurn as vilest dust | 8 | ········ |
| The world’s wealth and grandeur: | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And do I hear my Jeanie own | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That equal transports move her? | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| I ask for dearest life alone, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| That I may live to love her. | 7 | ······· |
| Thus, in my arms, wi’ a’ her charms, | 8 | ········ |
| I clasp my countless treasure; | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| I’ll seek nae main o’ Heav’n to share, | 8 | ········ |
| Tha sic a moment’s pleasure: | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| And by thy e’en sae bonie blue, | 8 | ········ |
| I swear I’m thine for ever! | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And on thy lips I seal my vow, | 8 | ········ |
| And break it shall I never. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
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.