On Nithside
Thou whom chance may hither lead,Be thou clad in russet weed,Be thou deckt in silken stole,Grave these counsels on thy soul.
Life is but a day at most,Sprung from night,—in darkness lost;Hope not sunshine ev’ry hour,Fear not clouds will always lour.
As Youth and Love with sprightly dance,Beneath thy morning star advance,Pleasure with her siren airMay delude the thoughtless pair;Let Prudence bless Enjoyment’s cup,Then raptur’d sip, and sip it up.
As thy day grows warm and high,Life’s meridian flaming nigh,Dost thou spurn the humble vale?Life’s proud summits wouldst thou scale?Check thy climbing step, elate,Evils lurk in felon wait:Dangers, eagle-pinioned, bold,Soar around each cliffy hold!While cheerful Peace, with linnet song,Chants the lowly dells among.
As the shades of ev’ning close,Beck’ning thee to long repose;As life itself becomes disease,Seek the chimney-nook of ease;There ruminate with sober thought,On all thou’st seen, and heard, and wrought,And teach the sportive younkers round,Saws of experience, sage and sound:Say, man’s true, genuine estimate,The grand criterion of his fate,Is not,—Arth thou high or low?Did thy fortune ebb or flow?Did many talents gild thy span?Or frugal Nature grudge thee one?Tell them, and press it on their mind,As thou thyself must shortly find,The smile or frown of awful Heav’n,To virtue or to Vice is giv’n,Say, to be just, and kind, and wise—There solid self-enjoyment lies;That foolish, selfish, faithless waysLead to be wretched, vile, and base.
Thus resign’d and quiet, creepTo the bed of lasting sleep,—Sleep, whence thou shalt ne’er awake,Night, where dawn shall never break,Till future life, future no more,To light and joy the good restore,To light and joy unknown before.Stranger, go! Heav’n be thy guide!Quod the Beadsman of Nithside.
Words in this poem 16
- 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.]
- spurn v. t.
- To drive back or away, as with the foot; to kick. [OE. spurnen to kick against, to stumble over, AS. spurnan to kick, offend; akin to spura spur, OS. & OHG. spurnan to kick, Icel. spyrna, L. spernere to despise,]
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
- elate a.
- Lifted up; raised; elevated. [L. elatus elevated, fig., elated, proud (the figure, perh., being borrowed from a prancing horse); e out + latus (used as p. p. of ferre to bear), for tlatus, a]
- cliffy a.
- Having cliffs; broken; craggy.
- nook n.
- A narrow place formed by an angle in bodies or between bodies; a corner; a recess; a secluded retreat. [OE. nok; cf. Gael. & Ir. niuc.]
- ruminate v. i.
- To chew the cud; to chew again what has been slightly chewed and swallowed. [L. ruminatus, p.p. of ruminari, ruminare, fr. rumen, -inis, throat, akin to ructare to belch, erugere to belch out, Gr. roccettan.]
- criterion n.
- A standard of judging; any approved or established rule or test, by which facts, principles opinions, and conduct are tried in forming a correct judgment respecting them. [Gr. Certain.]
- shortly adv.
- In a short or brief time or manner; soon; quickly. [AS. sceortlice.]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- 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,]
- 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
On Nithside 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, On Nithside, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/on-nithside.html, id L03150.
Form and metre
On Nithside is 55 lines in 6 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 76% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.5 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 octosyllabic couplets, 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 leadA · weedA · stoleB · soulB
- 2 --AA most · lost · hourA · lourA
- 3 AABBCC danceA · advanceA · airB · pairB · cupC · upC
- 4 AABBCCDD-- highA · nighA · valeB · scaleB · elateC · waitC · boldD · holdD · song · among
- 5 AABBCCDDEEFF--GG--HH-- closeA · reposeA · diseaseB · easeB · thoughtC · wroughtC · roundD · soundD · estimateE · fateE · lowF · flowF · span · one · mindG · findG · heav'n · giv'n · wiseH · liesH · ways · base
- 6 AABBCCCDD creepA · sleepA · awakeB · breakB · moreC · restoreC · beforeC · guideD · nithsideD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Thou whom chance may hither lead, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Be thou clad in russet weed, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Be thou deckt in silken stole, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Grave these counsels on thy soul. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Life is but a day at most, | 7 | ······· |
| Sprung from night,—in darkness lost; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Hope not sunshine ev’ry hour, | 8 | ··/···/˘ |
| Fear not clouds will always lour. | 7 | ····/·· |
| As Youth and Love with sprightly dance, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Beneath thy morning star advance, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Pleasure with her siren air | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| May delude the thoughtless pair; | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Let Prudence bless Enjoyment’s cup, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Then raptur’d sip, and sip it up. | 8 | ········ |
| As thy day grows warm and high, | 7 | ······· |
| Life’s meridian flaming nigh, | 8 | ·˘/˘˘/˘· |
| Dost thou spurn the humble vale? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Life’s proud summits wouldst thou scale? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Check thy climbing step, elate, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Evils lurk in felon wait: | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Dangers, eagle-pinioned, bold, | 8 | /˘/˘/˘˘· |
| Soar around each cliffy hold! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| While cheerful Peace, with linnet song, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Chants the lowly dells among. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| As the shades of ev’ning close, | 7 | ······· |
| Beck’ning thee to long repose; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| As life itself becomes disease, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘/ |
| Seek the chimney-nook of ease; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| There ruminate with sober thought, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| On all thou’st seen, and heard, and wrought, | 8 | ········ |
| And teach the sportive younkers round, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Saws of experience, sage and sound: | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Say, man’s true, genuine estimate, | 9 | ···//·/˘· |
| The grand criterion of his fate, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Is not,—Arth thou high or low? | 7 | ······· |
| Did thy fortune ebb or flow? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Did many talents gild thy span? | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Or frugal Nature grudge thee one? | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Tell them, and press it on their mind, | 8 | ········ |
| As thou thyself must shortly find, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| The smile or frown of awful Heav’n, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To virtue or to Vice is giv’n, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Say, to be just, and kind, and wise— | 8 | ········ |
| There solid self-enjoyment lies; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| That foolish, selfish, faithless ways | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Lead to be wretched, vile, and base. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thus resign’d and quiet, creep | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| To the bed of lasting sleep,— | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Sleep, whence thou shalt ne’er awake, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Night, where dawn shall never break, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Till future life, future no more, | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| To light and joy the good restore, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To light and joy unknown before. | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Stranger, go! Heav’n be thy guide! | 7 | /˘····· |
| Quod the Beadsman of Nithside. | 7 | ······· |
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