On Seeing Mrs. Kemble in Yarico
Kemble, thou cur’st my unbeliefFor Moses and his rod;At Yarico’s sweet nor of griefThe rock with tears had flow’d.
Bless Jesus Christ, O Cardonessp,With grateful, lifted eyes,Who taught that not the soul alone,But body too shall rise;For had He said “the soul aloneFrom death I will deliver,”Alas, alas! O Cardoness,Then hadst thou lain for ever.
Words in this poem
- unbelief n.
- The withholding of belief; doubt; incredulity; skepticism. [Pref. un- not + belief: cf. AS. ungeleáfa.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On Seeing Mrs. Kemble in Yarico 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 Seeing Mrs. Kemble in Yarico, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/on-seeing-mrs-kemble-in-yarico.html, id L03375.
Form and metre
On Seeing Mrs. Kemble in Yarico is 12 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 A-A- unbeliefA · rod · griefA · flow'd
- 2 -ABAB--- cardonessp · eyesA · aloneB · riseA · aloneB · deliver · cardoness · ever
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Kemble, thou cur’st my unbelief | 8 | /˘······ |
| For Moses and his rod; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| At Yarico’s sweet nor of grief | 8 | ········ |
| The rock with tears had flow’d. | 6 | ······ |
| Bless Jesus Christ, O Cardonessp, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| With grateful, lifted eyes, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Who taught that not the soul alone, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| But body too shall rise; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| For had He said “the soul alone | 8 | ······˘/ |
| From death I will deliver,” | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Alas, alas! O Cardoness, | 8 | ˘/˘/···· |
| Then hadst thou lain for ever. | 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.