My Highland Lassie, o
Nae gentle dames, tho’ e’er sae fair,Shall ever be my muse’s care:Their titles a’ arc empty show;Gie me my Highland lassie, O.
Chorus.—Within the glen sae bushy, O,Aboon the plain sae rashy, O,I set me down wi’ right guid will,To sing my Highland lassie, O.
O were yon hills and vallies mine,Yon palace and yon gardens fine!The world then the love should knowI bear my Highland Lassie, O.
But fickle fortune frowns on me,And I maun cross the raging sea!But while my crimson currents flow,I’ll love my Highland lassie, O.
Altho’ thro’ foreign climes I range,I know her heart will never change,For her bosom burns with honour’s glow,My faithful Highland lassie, O.
For her I’ll dare the billow’s roar,For her I’ll trace a distant shore,That Indian wealth may lustre throwAround my Highland lassie, O.
She has my heart, she has my hand,By secret troth and honour’s band!Till the mortal stroke shall lay me low,I’m thine, my Highland lassie, O.
Farewell the glen sae bushy, O!Farewell the plain sae rashy, O!To other lands I now must go,To sing my Highland lassie, O.
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- lassie n.
- A young girl; a lass.
- aboon prep.
- and adv. Above.
- 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.]
- billow n.
- A great wave or surge of the sea or other water, caused usually by violent wind. [Cf. Icel. bylgja billow, Dan. bölge, Sw. bölja; akin to MHG. bulge billow, bag, and to E. bulge. See Bulge.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- lustre n.
- A period of five years; a lustrum. [L. lustrum: cf. F. lustre.]
- troth n.
- Belief; faith; fidelity. [A variant of truth. See Truth.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
My Highland Lassie, o 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 Highland Lassie, o, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/my-highland-lassie-o.html, id L03026.
Form and metre
My Highland Lassie, o is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 6 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 6% 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 AABB fairA · careA · showB · oB
- 2 AA-A oA · oA · will · oA
- 3 AABB mineA · fineA · knowB · oB
- 4 AABB meA · seaA · flowB · oB
- 5 AABB rangeA · changeA · glowB · oB
- 6 AABB roarA · shoreA · throwB · oB
- 7 AABB handA · bandA · lowB · oB
- 8 AAAA oA · oA · goA · oA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Nae gentle dames, tho’ e’er sae fair, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Shall ever be my muse’s care: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Their titles a’ arc empty show; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Gie me my Highland lassie, O. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Chorus.—Within the glen sae bushy, O, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Aboon the plain sae rashy, O, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| I set me down wi’ right guid will, | 8 | ········ |
| To sing my Highland lassie, O. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| O were yon hills and vallies mine, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Yon palace and yon gardens fine! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The world then the love should know | 7 | ······· |
| I bear my Highland Lassie, O. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| But fickle fortune frowns on me, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And I maun cross the raging sea! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But while my crimson currents flow, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| I’ll love my Highland lassie, O. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Altho’ thro’ foreign climes I range, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| I know her heart will never change, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For her bosom burns with honour’s glow, | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| My faithful Highland lassie, O. | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| For her I’ll dare the billow’s roar, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For her I’ll trace a distant shore, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That Indian wealth may lustre throw | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Around my Highland lassie, O. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| She has my heart, she has my hand, | 8 | ········ |
| By secret troth and honour’s band! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Till the mortal stroke shall lay me low, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| I’m thine, my Highland lassie, O. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Farewell the glen sae bushy, O! | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Farewell the plain sae rashy, O! | 8 | ·/······ |
| To other lands I now must go, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To sing my Highland lassie, O. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
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.