My Eppie Macnab

Robert Burns (1759–1796) · 1786–1796

anapaestic tetrameter · rhyming couplets · 16 lines · from Poems and Songs

O saw ye my dearie, my Eppie Macnab?O saw ye my dearie, my Eppie Macnab?She’s down in the yard, she’s kissin the laird,She winna come hame to her ain Jock Rab.

O come thy ways to me, my Eppie Macnab;O come thy ways to me, my Eppie Macnab;Whate’er thou hast dune, be it late, be it sune,Thou’s welcome again to thy ain Jock Rab.

What says she, my dearie, my Eppie Macnab?What says she, my dearie, my Eppie Macnab?She let’s thee to wit that she has thee forgot,And for ever disowns thee, her ain Jock Rab.

O had I ne’er seen thee, my Eppie Macnab!O had I ne’er seen thee, my Eppie Macnab!As light as the air, and as fause as thou’s fair,Thou’s broken the heart o’ thy ain Jock Rab.

Words in this poem

laird n.: A lord; a landholder, esp. one who holds land directly of the crown. [See Lord.]
hast: , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
dune n.: A low hill of drifting sand usually formed on the coats, but often carried far inland by the prevailing winds. [The same word as down: cf. D. duin. See Down a bank of sand.]

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

About this text

My Eppie Macnab 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, My Eppie Macnab, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/my-eppie-macnab.html, id L03242.

Form and metre

My Eppie Macnab is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 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 88%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.8 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 AA-A macnab^A · macnab^A · laird · rab^A
2 AA-A macnab^A · macnab^A · sune · rab^A
3 AA-A macnab^A · macnab^A · forgot · rab^A
4 AA-A macnab^A · macnab^A · fair · rab^A

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
O saw ye my dearie, my Eppie Macnab?	11	····/˘···˘/
O saw ye my dearie, my Eppie Macnab?	11	····/˘···˘/
She’s down in the yard, she’s kissin the laird,	10	··········
She winna come hame to her ain Jock Rab.	10	··········
O come thy ways to me, my Eppie Macnab;	11	·········˘/
O come thy ways to me, my Eppie Macnab;	11	·········˘/
Whate’er thou hast dune, be it late, be it sune,	12	˘˘/·········
Thou’s welcome again to thy ain Jock Rab.	10	·/˘˘/·····
What says she, my dearie, my Eppie Macnab?	11	····/˘···˘/
What says she, my dearie, my Eppie Macnab?	11	····/˘···˘/
She let’s thee to wit that she has thee forgot,	11	·········˘/
And for ever disowns thee, her ain Jock Rab.	10	··/˘/·····
O had I ne’er seen thee, my Eppie Macnab!	11	·········˘/
O had I ne’er seen thee, my Eppie Macnab!	11	·········˘/
As light as the air, and as fause as thou’s fair,	11	···········
Thou’s broken the heart o’ thy ain Jock Rab.	10	·/˘·······

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.

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