Lines on the Commemoration of Rodney’s Victory
Instead of a Song, boy’s, I’ll give you a Toast;Here’s to the memory of those on the twelfth that we lost!—That we lost, did I say?—nay, by Heav’n, that we found;For their fame it will last while the world goes round.
The next in succession I’ll give you’s the King!Whoe’er would betray him, on high may he swing!And here’s the grand fabric, our free Constitution,As built on the base of our great Revolution!And longer with Politics not to be cramm’d,Be Anarchy curs’d, and Tyranny damn’d!And who would to Liberty e’er prove disloyal,May his son be a hangman—and he his first trial!
Words in this poem
- damn v. t.
- To condemn; to declare guilty; to doom; to adjudge to punishment; to sentence; to censhure. [OE. damnen dap), OF. damner, dampner, F. damner, fr. L. damnare, damnatum, to condemn, fr. damnum damage, a fine, penalty. Cf. Condemn, Damage.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Lines on the Commemoration of Rodney’s Victory 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, Lines on the Commemoration of Rodney’s Victory, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/lines-on-the-commemoration-of-rodney-s-victory.html, id L03313.
Form and metre
Lines on the Commemoration of Rodney’s Victory is 12 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 67% of the lines. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.2 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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 --AA toast · lost · foundA · roundA
- 2 AABBCC-- kingA · swingA · constitutionB · revolutionB · cramm'dC · damn'dC · disloyal · trial
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Instead of a Song, boy’s, I’ll give you a Toast; | 11 | ˘/········· |
| Here’s to the memory of those on the twelfth that we lost!— | 13 | ···/˘········ |
| That we lost, did I say?—nay, by Heav’n, that we found; | 12 | ············ |
| For their fame it will last while the world goes round. | 11 | ··········· |
| The next in succession I’ll give you’s the King! | 11 | ···˘/˘····· |
| Whoe’er would betray him, on high may he swing! | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| And here’s the grand fabric, our free Constitution, | 12 | ····/˘/··˘/˘ |
| As built on the base of our great Revolution! | 12 | ······/··˘/˘ |
| And longer with Politics not to be cramm’d, | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| Be Anarchy curs’d, and Tyranny damn’d! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And who would to Liberty e’er prove disloyal, | 11 | ····/˘··˘/˘ |
| May his son be a hangman—and he his first trial! | 13 | ·····/˘····/˘ |
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.