Epigrams Against the Earl of Galloway
What dost thou in that mansion fair?Flit, Galloway, and findSome narrow, dirty, dungeon cave,The picture of thy mind.
No Stewart art thou, Galloway,The Stewarts ’ll were brave;Besides, the Stewarts were but fools,Not one of them a knave.
Bright ran thy line, O Galloway,Thro’ many a far-fam’d sire!So ran the far-famed Roman way,And ended in a mire.
Spare me thy vengeance, Galloway!In quiet let me live:I ask no kindness at thy hand,For thou hast none to give.
Words in this poem
- mansion n.
- A dwelling place, -- whether a part or whole of a house or other shelter. [OF. mansion, F. maison, fr. L. mansio a staying, remaining, a dwelling, habitation, fr. manere, mansum, to stay, dwell; akin to Gr. Manse, Manor, Menagerie, Men]
- flit a.
- Nimble; quick; swift. See Fleet.
- galloway n.
- A small horse of a breed raised at Galloway, Scotland; -- called also garran, and garron.
- dungeon n.
- A close, dark prison, commondonjon or keep of a castle, these being used as prisons. [OE. donjoun highest tower of a castle, tower, prison, F. donjon tower or platform in the midst of a castle, turret, or closet on the top of a house, a keep of a]
- knave n.
- A boy; especially, a boy servant. Wyclif. [OE., boy, servant, knave, AS. cnafa boy, youth; cf. AS. cnapa boy, youth, D. kna, G. knabe boy, knappe esquire, Icel. knapi, Sw. knape esquire, knäfvel knave.]
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Epigrams Against the Earl of Galloway 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, Epigrams Against the Earl of Galloway, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/epigrams-against-the-earl-of-galloway.html, id L03326.
Form and metre
Epigrams Against the Earl of Galloway is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 6% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 -ABA fair · findA · caveB · mindA
- 2 CB-B gallowayC · braveB · fools · knaveB
- 3 C-C- gallowayC · sire · wayC · mire
- 4 C--- gallowayC · live · hand · give
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| What dost thou in that mansion fair? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Flit, Galloway, and find | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Some narrow, dirty, dungeon cave, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| The picture of thy mind. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| No Stewart art thou, Galloway, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The Stewarts ’ll were brave; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Besides, the Stewarts were but fools, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Not one of them a knave. | 6 | ······ |
| Bright ran thy line, O Galloway, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thro’ many a far-fam’d sire! | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| So ran the far-famed Roman way, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And ended in a mire. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Spare me thy vengeance, Galloway! | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| In quiet let me live: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I ask no kindness at thy hand, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For thou hast none to give. | 6 | ······ |
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