Duan First

Robert Burns (1759–1796) · 1786–1796

iambic tetrameter · 132 lines · from Poems and Songs

The sun had clos’d the winter day,The curless quat their roarin play,And hunger’d maukin taen her way,To kail-yards green,While faithless snaws ilk step betrayWhare she has been.

The thresher’s weary flingin-tree,The lee-lang day had tired me;And when the day had clos’d his e’e,Far i’ the west,Ben i’ the spence, right pensivelie,I gaed to rest.

There, lanely by the ingle-cheek,I sat and ey’d the spewing reek,That fill’d, wi’ hoast-provoking smeek,The auld clay biggin;An’ heard the restless rattons squeakAbout the riggin.

All in this mottie, misty clime,I backward mus’d on wasted time,How I had spent my youthfu’ prime,An’ done nae thing,But stringing blethers up in rhyme,For fools to sing.

Had I to guid advice but harkit,I might, by this, hae led a market,Or strutted in a bank and clarkitMy cash-account;While here, half-mad, half-fed, half-sarkit.Is a’ th’ amount.

I started, mutt’ring, “blockhead! coof!”And heav’d on high my waukit loof,To swear by a’ yon starry roof,Or some rash aith,That I henceforth wad be rhyme-proofTill my last breath—

When click! the string the snick did draw;An’ jee! the door gaed to the wa’;An’ by my ingle-lowe I saw,Now bleezin bright,A tight, outlandish hizzie, braw,Come full in sight.

Ye need na doubt, I held my whisht;The infant aith, half-form’d, was crushtI glowr’d as eerie’s I’d been dushtIn some wild glen;When sweet, like honest Worth, she blusht,An’ stepped ben.

Green, slender, leaf-clad holly-boughsWere twisted, gracefu’, round her brows;I took her for some Scottish Muse,By that same token;And come to stop those reckless vows,Would soon been broken.

A “hair-brain’d, sentimental trace”Was strongly marked in her face;A wildly-witty, rustic graceShone full upon her;Her eye, ev’n turn’d on empty space,Beam’d keen with honour.

Down flow’d her robe, a tartan sheen,Till half a leg was scrimply seen;An’ such a leg! my bonie JeanCould only peer it;Sae straught, sae taper, tight an’ clean—Nane else came near it.

Her mantle large, of greenish hue,My gazing wonder chiefly drew:Deep lights and shades, bold-mingling, threwA lustre grand;And seem’d, to my astonish’d view,A well-known land.

Here, rivers in the sea were lost;There, mountains to the skies were toss’t:Here, tumbling billows mark’d the coast,With surging foam;There, distant shone Art’s lofty boast,The lordly dome.

Here, Doon pour’d down his far-fetch’d floods;There, well-fed Irwine stately thuds:Auld hermit Ayr staw thro’ his woods,On to the shore;And many a lesser torrent scuds,With seeming roar.

Low, in a sandy valley spread,An ancient borough rear’d her head;Still, as in Scottish story read,She boasts a raceTo ev’ry nobler virtue bred,And polish’d grace.

By stately tow’r, or palace fair,Or ruins pendent in the air,Bold stems of heroes, here and there,I could discern;Some seem’d to muse, some seem’d to dare,With feature stern.

My heart did glowing transport feel,To see a race heroic wheel,

And brandish round the deep-dyed steel,In sturdy blows;While, back-recoiling, seem’d to reelTheir Suthron foes.

His Country’s Saviour, mark him well!Bold Richardton’s heroic swell;The chief, on Sark who glorious fell,In high command;And he whom ruthless fates expelHis native land.

There, where a sceptr’d Pictish shadeStalk’d round his ashes lowly laid,I mark’d a martial race, pourtray’dIn colours strong:Bold, soldier-featur’d, undismay’d,They strode along.

Thro’ many a wild, romantic grove,Near many a hermit-fancied cove(Fit haunts for friendship or for love,In musing mood),An aged Judge, I saw him rove,Dispensing good.

With deep-struck, reverential awe,The learned Sire and Son I saw:To Nature’s God, and Nature’s law,They gave their lore;This, all its source and end to draw,That, to adore.

Brydon’s brave ward I well could spy,Beneath old Scotia’s smiling eye:Who call’d on Fame, low standing by,To hand him on,Where many a patriot-name on high,And hero shone.

Words in this poem 35

quat v. t.: To satiate; to satisfy.
kail n.: A kind of headless cabbage. Same as Kale, 1.
spence n.: A place where provisions are kept; a buttery; a larder; a pantry. [OF. despense, F. dépense, buffet, buttery, fr. OF. despendre to spend, distribute, L. dispendere, dispensum. See Dispense, Spend.]
ingle n.: Flame; blaze; a fire; a fireplace. Burns. Ingle nock, the chimney corner. [Gael. & Ir. aingeali fire; cf. L. igniculusi spark, dim. of ignis fire. Cf. Ignite.]
reek n.: A rick. B. Jonson.
auld a.: Old; as, Auld Reekie (old smoky), i. e., Edinburgh. [See Old.]
biggin n.: A child's cap; a hood, or something worn on the head. [F. béguin, prob. from the cap worn by the Béguines. Cf. Beguine, Biggon.]
squeak v. i.: To utter a sharp, shrill cry, usually of short duration; to cry with an acute tone, as an animal; or, to make a sharp, disagreeable noise, as a pipe or quill, a wagon wheel, a door; to creak. [Probably of imitative origin; cf. Sw. sqväka to croak, Icel. skvakka to give a sound as of water shaken in a bottle.]
clime n.: A climate; a tract or region of the earth. See Climate. [L. clima. See Climate.]
loof n.: The spongelike fibers of the fruit of a cucurbitaceous plant (Luffa Ægyptiaca); called also vegetable sponge.
starry a.: Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
henceforth adv.: From this time forward; henceforward.
snick n.: A small cut or mark. [Prov. E. snick a notch; cf. Icel. snikka nick, cut.]
outlandish a.: Foreign; not native. [AS. foreign. See Out, Land, and -ish.]
braw a.: Well-dressed; handsome; smart; brave; -- used of persons or their clothing, etc.; as, a braw lad.
eerie a.: Serving to inspire fear, esp. a dread of seeing ghosts; wild; weird; as, eerie stories. [Scotch, fr. AS. earh timid.]
clad v.: To clothe. Holland.
sentimental a.: Having, expressing, or containing a sentiment or sentiments; abounding with moral reflections; containing a moral reflection; didactic. [Cf. F. sentimental.]
witty a.: Possessed of wit; knowing; wise; skillful; judicious; clever; cunning. [AS. witig, wittig. See Wit, n.]
honour n.: Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
tartan n.: Woolen cloth, checkered or crossbarred with narrow bands of various colors, much worn in the Highlands of Scotland; hence, any pattern of tartan; also, other material of a similar pattern. [F. tiretane linsey-woolsey, akin to Sp. tiritaña a sort of thin silk; cf. Sp. tiritar to shiver or shake with cold.]
sheen v. i.: To shine; to glisten.
straught v. t.: To stretch; to make straight.
lustre n.: A period of five years; a lustrum. [L. lustrum: cf. F. lustre.]
staw v. i.: To be fixed or set; to stay. [Cf. Dan. staae to stand, Sw. stå. *163.]
brandish v. t.: To move or wave, as a weapon; to raise and move in various directions; to shake or flourish. [OE. braundisen, F. brandir, fr. brand a sword, fr. OHG. brant brand. See Brand, n.]
saviour n.: One who saves, preserves, or delivers from destruction or danger. [OE. saveour, OF. salveor, F. sauveur, fr. L. salvator to save. See Save, v.]
sark v. t.: To cover with sarking, or thin boards.
glorious a.: Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
ruthless a.: Having no ruth; cruel; pitiless.
pictish a.: Of or pertaining to Picts; resembling the Picts.
cove v. t.: To brood, cover, over, or sit over, as birds their eggs. [CF. F. couver, It. covare. See Covey.]
sire n.: A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
adore v. t.: To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
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.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Duan First 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, Duan First, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/duan-first.html, id L03010.

Form and metre

Duan First is 132 lines in 23 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is AAABAB, in 10 of the 23 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.8 syllables. 6 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 AAA-A- day^A · play^A · way^A · green · betray^A · been
2 AAAB-B tree^A · me^A · e'e^A · west^B · pensivelie · rest^B
3 AAABAB cheek^A · reek^A · smeek^A · biggin^B · squeak^A · riggin^B
4 AAABAB clime^A · time^A · prime^A · thing^B · rhyme^A · sing^B
5 A-ABAB harkit^A · market · clarkit^A · account^B · sarkit^A · amount^B
6 AAABAB coof^A · loof^A · roof^A · aith^B · proof^A · breath^B
7 A-ABAB draw^A · wa · saw^A · bright^B · braw^A · sight^B
8 -AABAB whisht · crusht^A · dusht^A · glen^B · blusht^A · ben^B
9 AA-BAB boughs^A · brows^A · muse · token^B · vows^A · broken^B
10 AAA-A- trace^A · face^A · grace^A · her · space^A · honour
11 AAABAB sheen^A · seen^A · jean^A · it^B · clean^A · it^B
12 AAABAB hue^A · drew^A · threw^A · grand^B · view^A · land^B
13 --ABAB lost · toss't · coast^A · foam^B · boast^A · dome^B
14 AA-BAB floods^A · thuds^A · woods · shore^B · scuds^A · roar^B
15 AAABAB spread^A · head^A · read^A · race^B · bred^A · grace^B
16 AAABAB fair^A · air^A · there^A · discern^B · dare^A · stern^B
17 AA feel^A · wheel^A
18 ABAB steel^A · blows^B · reel^A · foes^B
19 AAABAB well^A · swell^A · fell^A · command^B · expel^A · land^B
20 AAABAB shade^A · laid^A · pourtray'd^A · strong^B · undismay'd^A · along^B
21 AA--A- grove^A · cove^A · love · mood · rove^A · good
22 AAABAB awe^A · saw^A · law^A · lore^B · draw^A · adore^B
23 AAA-A- spy^A · eye^A · by^A · on · high^A · shone

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
The sun had clos’d the winter day,	8	·····/˘·
The curless quat their roarin play,	8	·/˘·····
And hunger’d maukin taen her way,	8	···/˘···
To kail-yards green,	4	····
While faithless snaws ilk step betray	8	·/˘···˘/
Whare she has been.	4	····
The thresher’s weary flingin-tree,	8	·/˘/˘···
The lee-lang day had tired me;	8	·····/˘·
And when the day had clos’d his e’e,	8	········
Far i’ the west,	4	····
Ben i’ the spence, right pensivelie,	9	·········
I gaed to rest.	4	····
There, lanely by the ingle-cheek,	9	······/˘·
I sat and ey’d the spewing reek,	8	·····/˘·
That fill’d, wi’ hoast-provoking smeek,	8	····˘/˘·
The auld clay biggin;	5	···/˘
An’ heard the restless rattons squeak	8	···/˘···
About the riggin.	5	···/˘
All in this mottie, misty clime,	8	·····/˘·
I backward mus’d on wasted time,	8	·/˘··/˘·
How I had spent my youthfu’ prime,	8	········
An’ done nae thing,	4	····
But stringing blethers up in rhyme,	8	·/˘·····
For fools to sing.	4	····
Had I to guid advice but harkit,	9	····˘/···
I might, by this, hae led a market,	9	·······/˘
Or strutted in a bank and clarkit	9	·/˘······
My cash-account;	4	··˘/
While here, half-mad, half-fed, half-sarkit.	9	·········
Is a’ th’ amount.	4	··˘/
I started, mutt’ring, “blockhead! coof!”	8	·/˘··/··
And heav’d on high my waukit loof,	8	········
To swear by a’ yon starry roof,	8	·····/˘·
Or some rash aith,	4	····
That I henceforth wad be rhyme-proof	8	··//····
Till my last breath—	4	····
When click! the string the snick did draw;	8	········
An’ jee! the door gaed to the wa’;	8	········
An’ by my ingle-lowe I saw,	8	···/˘···
Now bleezin bright,	4	····
A tight, outlandish hizzie, braw,	8	··˘/˘···
Come full in sight.	4	····
Ye need na doubt, I held my whisht;	8	········
The infant aith, half-form’d, was crusht	8	·/˘·····
I glowr’d as eerie’s I’d been dusht	8	···/˘···
In some wild glen;	4	····
When sweet, like honest Worth, she blusht,	8	···/˘···
An’ stepped ben.	3	···
Green, slender, leaf-clad holly-boughs	8	·/˘··/˘·
Were twisted, gracefu’, round her brows;	9	·/˘······
I took her for some Scottish Muse,	8	·····/˘·
By that same token;	5	···/˘
And come to stop those reckless vows,	8	·····/˘·
Would soon been broken.	5	···/˘
A “hair-brain’d, sentimental trace”	8	····˘/˘·
Was strongly marked in her face;	8	·/˘·˘···
A wildly-witty, rustic grace	8	·/˘/˘/˘·
Shone full upon her;	5	·····
Her eye, ev’n turn’d on empty space,	8	·····/˘·
Beam’d keen with honour.	5	···/˘
Down flow’d her robe, a tartan sheen,	8	·····/˘·
Till half a leg was scrimply seen;	8	········
An’ such a leg! my bonie Jean	8	········
Could only peer it;	5	·/˘··
Sae straught, sae taper, tight an’ clean—	8	···/˘···
Nane else came near it.	5	·····
Her mantle large, of greenish hue,	8	·/˘··/˘·
My gazing wonder chiefly drew:	8	·/˘/˘/˘·
Deep lights and shades, bold-mingling, threw	8	·····/˘·
A lustre grand;	4	·/˘·
And seem’d, to my astonish’d view,	8	····˘/˘·
A well-known land.	4	····
Here, rivers in the sea were lost;	8	·/˘·····
There, mountains to the skies were toss’t:	8	·/˘·····
Here, tumbling billows mark’d the coast,	8	·/˘/˘···
With surging foam;	4	·/˘·
There, distant shone Art’s lofty boast,	8	·/˘··/˘·
The lordly dome.	4	·/˘·
Here, Doon pour’d down his far-fetch’d floods;	8	········
There, well-fed Irwine stately thuds:	8	·····/˘·
Auld hermit Ayr staw thro’ his woods,	8	·/˘·····
On to the shore;	4	····
And many a lesser torrent scuds,	8	·/·/˘/˘·
With seeming roar.	4	·/˘·
Low, in a sandy valley spread,	8	···/˘/˘·
An ancient borough rear’d her head;	8	·/˘/····
Still, as in Scottish story read,	8	···/˘/˘·
She boasts a race	4	····
To ev’ry nobler virtue bred,	8	···/˘/˘·
And polish’d grace.	4	·/˘·
By stately tow’r, or palace fair,	8	·/˘··/˘·
Or ruins pendent in the air,	8	·/˘/˘···
Bold stems of heroes, here and there,	8	···/˘···
I could discern;	4	··˘/
Some seem’d to muse, some seem’d to dare,	8	········
With feature stern.	4	·/˘·
My heart did glowing transport feel,	8	···/˘/˘·
To see a race heroic wheel,	8	····˘/˘·
And brandish round the deep-dyed steel,	8	·/˘·····
In sturdy blows;	4	·/˘·
While, back-recoiling, seem’d to reel	8	··˘/˘···
Their Suthron foes.	4	····
His Country’s Saviour, mark him well!	8	·/˘/˘···
Bold Richardton’s heroic swell;	8	····˘/˘·
The chief, on Sark who glorious fell,	8	·····/˘·
In high command;	4	··˘/
And he whom ruthless fates expel	8	···/˘·˘/
His native land.	4	·/˘·
There, where a sceptr’d Pictish shade	7	····/˘·
Stalk’d round his ashes lowly laid,	8	···/˘/˘·
I mark’d a martial race, pourtray’d	8	···/˘···
In colours strong:	4	·/˘·
Bold, soldier-featur’d, undismay’d,	8	·/˘/˘···
They strode along.	4	··˘/
Thro’ many a wild, romantic grove,	8	·/··˘/˘·
Near many a hermit-fancied cove	8	·/·/˘/˘·
(Fit haunts for friendship or for love,	8	···/˘···
In musing mood),	4	·/˘·
An aged Judge, I saw him rove,	7	·······
Dispensing good.	4	˘/˘·
With deep-struck, reverential awe,	8	····˘/˘·
The learned Sire and Son I saw:	8	··/˘····
To Nature’s God, and Nature’s law,	8	·/˘··/˘·
They gave their lore;	4	····
This, all its source and end to draw,	8	········
That, to adore.	4	··˘/
Brydon’s brave ward I well could spy,	8	/˘······
Beneath old Scotia’s smiling eye:	8	···/˘/˘·
Who call’d on Fame, low standing by,	8	·····/˘·
To hand him on,	4	····
Where many a patriot-name on high,	8	·/·/˘···
And hero shone.	4	·/˘·

Notes from the edition 9

Notes from The Complete Works of Robert Burns (Project Gutenberg #1279).

Stanza 15, line 6 The seven stanzas following this were first printed in the Edinburgh edition, 1787. Other stanzas, never published by Burns himself, are given on p. 180.
Stanza 17, line 2 The Wallaces.—R. B.
Stanza 19, line 1 William Wallace.—R.B.
Stanza 19, line 2 Adam Wallace of Richardton, cousin to the immortal preserver of Scottish independence.—R.B.
Stanza 19, line 3 Mauchline.
Stanza 20, line 2 Coilus, King of the Picts, from whom the district of Kyle is said to take its name, lies buried, as tradition says, near the family seat of the Montgomeries of Coilsfield, where his burial—place is still shown.—R.B.
Stanza 21, line 1 Barskimming, the seat of the Lord Justice— Clerk.—R.B.
Stanza 22, line 2 Catrine, the seat of the late Doctor and present Professor Stewart.—R.B.
Stanza 23, line 1 Colonel Fullarton.—R.B. This gentleman had travelled under the care of Patrick Brydone, author of a well-known “Tour Through Sicily and Malta.”

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