Contented Wi’ Little and Cantie Wi’ Mair
Contented wi’ little, and cantie wi’ mair,Whene’er I forgather wi’ Sorrow and Care,I gie them a skelp as they’re creeping alang,Wi’ a cog o’ gude swats and an auld Scottish sang.Chorus—Contented wi’ little, &c.
I whiles claw the elbow o’ troublesome thought;But Man is a soger, and Life is a faught;My mirth and gude humour are coin in my pouch,And my Freedom’s my Lairdship nae monarch dare touch.Contented wi’ little, &c.
A townmond o’ trouble, should that be may fa’,A night o’ gude fellowship sowthers it a’:When at the blythe end o’ our journey at last,Wha the deil ever thinks o’ the road he has past?Contented wi’ little, &c.
Blind Chance, let her snapper and stoyte on her way;Be’t to me, be’t frae me, e’en let the jade gae:Come Ease, or come Travail, come Pleasure or Pain,My warst word is: “Welcome, and welcome again!”Contented wi’ little, &c.
Words in this poem
- forgather v. i.
- To convene; to gossip; to meet accidentally. Jamieson.
- skelp n.
- A blow; a smart stroke. Brockett. [Cf. Prov. E. skelp to kick severely, to move rapidly; Gael. sgealp, n., a slap with the palm of the hand, v., to strike with the palm of the hand.]
- auld a.
- Old; as, Auld Reekie (old smoky), i. e., Edinburgh. [See Old.]
- whiles conj.
- During the time that; while. Chaucer. Fuller.
- soger n.
- Var. of Soldier. [Dial. or Slang] R. H. Dana, Jr.
- humour n.
- Moisture, especially, the moisture or fluid of animal bodies, as the chyle, lymph, etc.; as, the humors of the eye, etc. [OE. humour, OF. humor, umor, F. humeur, L. humor, umor, moisture, fluid, fr. humere, umere, to be moist. See Humid.]
- lairdship n.
- The state of being a laird; an estate; landed property.
- deil n.
- Devil; -- spelt also deel. Deil's buckie. See under Buckie.
- snapper n.
- One who, or that which, snaps; as, a snapper up of trifles; the snapper of a whip.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Contented Wi’ Little and Cantie Wi’ Mair 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, Contented Wi’ Little and Cantie Wi’ Mair, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/contented-wi-little-and-cantie-wi-mair.html, id L03391.
Form and metre
Contented Wi’ Little and Cantie Wi’ Mair is 20 lines in 4 stanzas of 5 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 50% of the lines. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 81% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.4 syllables.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in anapaestic 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 AABB- mairA · careA · alangB · sangB · —
- 2 AA--- thoughtA · faughtA · pouch · touch · —
- 3 --AA- fa · a · lastA · pastA · —
- 4 --AA- way · gae · painA · againA · —
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 anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Contented wi’ little, and cantie wi’ mair, | 11 | ˘/˘·/˘····· |
| Whene’er I forgather wi’ Sorrow and Care, | 12 | ····˘/˘·/˘·· |
| I gie them a skelp as they’re creeping alang, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Wi’ a cog o’ gude swats and an auld Scottish sang. | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| Chorus—Contented wi’ little, &c. | 9 | /˘˘/˘·/˘· |
| I whiles claw the elbow o’ troublesome thought; | 10 | ····/··/˘· |
| But Man is a soger, and Life is a faught; | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| My mirth and gude humour are coin in my pouch, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| And my Freedom’s my Lairdship nae monarch dare touch. | 12 | ··/˘·/˘·/··· |
| Contented wi’ little, &c. | 7 | ˘/˘·/˘· |
| A townmond o’ trouble, should that be may fa’, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| A night o’ gude fellowship sowthers it a’: | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| When at the blythe end o’ our journey at last, | 11 | ······//˘·· |
| Wha the deil ever thinks o’ the road he has past? | 11 | ···/······· |
| Contented wi’ little, &c. | 7 | ˘/˘·/˘· |
| Blind Chance, let her snapper and stoyte on her way; | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Be’t to me, be’t frae me, e’en let the jade gae: | 11 | ··········· |
| Come Ease, or come Travail, come Pleasure or Pain, | 11 | ····˘/·/˘·· |
| My warst word is: “Welcome, and welcome again!” | 11 | ····/˘·/˘˘/ |
| Contented wi’ little, &c. | 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.