Lines Written in Friars’-Carse Hermitage
Thou whom chance may hither lead,Be thou clad in russet weed,Be thou deckt in silken stole,Grave these maxims on thy soul.
Life is but a day at most,Sprung from night, in darkness lost:Hope not sunshine every hour,Fear not clouds will always lour.
Happiness is but a name,Make content and ease thy aim,Ambition is a meteor-gleam;Fame, an idle restless dream;
Peace, the tend’rest flow’r of spring;Pleasures, insects on the wing;Those that sip the dew alone—Make the butterflies thy own;Those that would the bloom devour—Crush the locusts, save the flower.
For the future be prepar’d,Guard wherever thou can’st guard;But thy utmost duly done,Welcome what thou can’st not shun.Follies past, give thou to air,Make their consequence thy care:Keep the name of Man in mind,And dishonour not thy kind.Reverence with lowly heartHim, whose wondrous work thou art;Keep His Goodness still in view,Thy trust, and thy example, too.
Stranger, go! Heaven be thy guide!Quod the Beadsman of Nidside.
Words in this poem
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- lour n.
- An Asiatic sardine (Clupea Neohowii), valued for its oil. [Native name.]
- wherever adv.
- At or in whatever place; wheresoever.
- dishonour n.
- Lack of honor; disgrace; ignominy; shame; reproach. [OE. deshonour, dishonour, OF. deshonor, deshonur, F. déshonneur; pref. des- (L. dis-) + honor, honur, F. honneur, fr. L. honor. See Honor.]
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- quod v.
- Quoth; said. See Quoth.
- beadsman n.
- A poor man, supported in a beadhouse, and required to pray for the soul of its founder; an almsman.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Lines Written in Friars’-Carse Hermitage 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 Written in Friars’-Carse Hermitage, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/lines-written-in-friars-carse-hermitage.html, id L03136.
Form and metre
Lines Written in Friars’-Carse Hermitage is 32 lines in 6 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 88% of the lines. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic 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 leadA · weedA · stoleB · soulB
- 2 --AA most · lost · hourA · lourA
- 3 AABB nameA · aimA · gleamB · dreamB
- 4 AABBCC springA · wingA · aloneB · ownB · devourC · flowerC
- 5 --AABBCCDDEE prepar'd · guard · doneA · shunA · airB · careB · mindC · kindC · heartD · artD · viewE · tooE
- 6 AA guideA · nidsideA
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Thou whom chance may hither lead, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Be thou clad in russet weed, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Be thou deckt in silken stole, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Grave these maxims on thy soul. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Life is but a day at most, | 7 | ······· |
| Sprung from night, in darkness lost: | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Hope not sunshine every hour, | 9 | ··/·/˘˘/˘ |
| Fear not clouds will always lour. | 7 | ····/·· |
| Happiness is but a name, | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| Make content and ease thy aim, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Ambition is a meteor-gleam; | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Fame, an idle restless dream; | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Peace, the tend’rest flow’r of spring; | 7 | ······· |
| Pleasures, insects on the wing; | 7 | /˘/···· |
| Those that sip the dew alone— | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Make the butterflies thy own; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Those that would the bloom devour— | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Crush the locusts, save the flower. | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| For the future be prepar’d, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Guard wherever thou can’st guard; | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| But thy utmost duly done, | 7 | ··/·/˘· |
| Welcome what thou can’st not shun. | 7 | /˘····· |
| Follies past, give thou to air, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Make their consequence thy care: | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| Keep the name of Man in mind, | 7 | ······· |
| And dishonour not thy kind. | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Reverence with lowly heart | 7 | /˘˘·/˘· |
| Him, whose wondrous work thou art; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Keep His Goodness still in view, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Thy trust, and thy example, too. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Stranger, go! Heaven be thy guide! | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Quod the Beadsman of Nidside. | 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.