Poem on Pastoral Poetry
Hail, Poesie! thou Nymph reserv’d!In chase o’ thee, what crowds hae swerv’dFrae common sense, or sunk enerv’d’Mang heaps o’ clavers:And och! o’er aft thy joes hae starv’d,’Mid a’ thy favours!
Say, Lassie, why, thy train amang,While loud the trump’s heroic clang,And sock or buskin skelp alangTo death or marriage;Scarce ane has tried the shepherd—sangBut wi’ miscarriage?
In Homer’s craft Jock Milton thrives;Eschylus’ pen Will Shakespeare drives;Wee Pope, the knurlin’, till him rivesHoratian fame;In thy sweet sang, Barbauld, survivesEven Sappho’s flame.
But thee, Theocritus, wha matches?They’re no herd’s ballats, Maro’s catches;Squire Pope but busks his skinklin’ patchesO’ heathen tatters:I pass by hunders, nameless wretches,That ape their betters.
In this braw age o’ wit and lear,Will nane the Shepherd’s whistle mairBlaw sweetly in its native air,And rural grace;And, wi’ the far-fam’d Grecian, shareA rival place?
Yes! there is ane—a Scottish callan!There’s ane; come forrit, honest Allan!Thou need na jouk behint the hallan,A chiel sae clever;The teeth o’ time may gnaw Tantallan,But thou’s for ever.
Thou paints auld Nature to the nines,In thy sweet Caledonian lines;Nae gowden stream thro’ myrtle twines,Where Philomel,While nightly breezes sweep the vines,Her griefs will tell!
In gowany glens thy burnie strays,Where bonie lasses bleach their claes,Or trots by hazelly shaws and braes,Wi’ hawthorns gray,Where blackbirds join the shepherd’s lays,At close o’ day.
Thy rural loves are Nature’s sel’;Nae bombast spates o’ nonsense swell;Nae snap conceits, but that sweet spellO’ witchin love,That charm that can the strongest quell,The sternest move.
Words in this poem 18
- lassie n.
- A young girl; a lass.
- clang v. t.
- To strike together so as to produce a ringing metallic sound. [L. clangere; akin to Gr. clank.]
- sock n.
- A plowshare. Edin. Encyc. [F. soc, LL. soccus, perhaps of Celtic origin.]
- buskin n.
- A strong, protecting covering for the foot, coming some distance up the leg. [Prob. from OF. brossequin, or D. broosken. See Brodekin.]
- skelp n.
- A blow; a smart stroke. Brockett. [Cf. Prov. E. skelp to kick severely, to move rapidly; Gael. sgealp, n., a slap with the palm of the hand, v., to strike with the palm of the hand.]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- craft n.
- Strength; might; secret power. [AS. cr strength, skill, art, cunning; akin to OS., G., Sw., & Dan. kraft strength, D. kracht, Icel. kraptr; perh. originally, a drawing together, stretching, fr]
- horatian a.
- Of or pertaining to Horace, the Latin poet, or resembling his style.
- nameless a.
- Without a name; not having been given a name; as, a nameless star.
- braw a.
- Well-dressed; handsome; smart; brave; -- used of persons or their clothing, etc.; as, a braw lad.
- lear v. t.
- To learn. See Lere, to learn.
- auld a.
- Old; as, Auld Reekie (old smoky), i. e., Edinburgh. [See Old.]
- caledonian a.
- Of or pertaining to Caledonia or Scotland; Scottish; Scotch.
- nightly a.
- Of or pertaining to the night, or to every night; happening or done by night, or every night; as, nightly shades; he kept nightly vigils.
- gowany a.
- Having, abounding in, or decked with, daisies.
- burnie n.
- A small brook. Burns. [See 4th Burn.]
- hazelly a.
- Of the color of the hazelnut; of a light brown. Mortimer.
- quell v. t.
- To take the life of; to kill. [OE. quellen to kill, AS. cwellan, causative of cwelan to die; akin to OHG. quellen to torment, Icel. kvelja. See Quail to cower.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poem on Pastoral Poetry 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, Poem on Pastoral Poetry, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/poem-on-pastoral-poetry.html, id L03234.
Form and metre
Poem on Pastoral Poetry is 54 lines in 9 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AAABAB, complete in 6 of its 9 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 7.0 syllables. 13 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 18% 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 AAABAB reserv'dA · swerv'dA · enerv'dA · claversB · starv'dA · favoursB
- 2 AAA-A- amangA · clangA · alangA · marriage · sangA · miscarriage
- 3 AAABAB thrivesA · drivesA · rivesA · fameB · survivesA · flameB
- 4 AAA--- matchesA · catchesA · patchesA · tatters · wretches · betters
- 5 AAABAB learA · mairA · airA · graceB · shareA · placeB
- 6 AAABAB callanA · allanA · hallanA · cleverB · tantallanA · everB
- 7 AA--A- ninesA · linesA · twines · philomel · vinesA · tell
- 8 AAABAB straysA · claesA · braesA · grayB · laysA · dayB
- 9 AAABAB selA · swellA · spellA · loveB · quellA · moveB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hail, Poesie! thou Nymph reserv’d! | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| In chase o’ thee, what crowds hae swerv’d | 8 | ········ |
| Frae common sense, or sunk enerv’d | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| ’Mang heaps o’ clavers: | 5 | ····· |
| And och! o’er aft thy joes hae starv’d, | 8 | ········ |
| ’Mid a’ thy favours! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Say, Lassie, why, thy train amang, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| While loud the trump’s heroic clang, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| And sock or buskin skelp alang | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To death or marriage; | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Scarce ane has tried the shepherd—sang | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But wi’ miscarriage? | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| In Homer’s craft Jock Milton thrives; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Eschylus’ pen Will Shakespeare drives; | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Wee Pope, the knurlin’, till him rives | 8 | ········ |
| Horatian fame; | 4 | ˘/˘· |
| In thy sweet sang, Barbauld, survives | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Even Sappho’s flame. | 5 | /˘··· |
| But thee, Theocritus, wha matches? | 8 | ······/˘ |
| They’re no herd’s ballats, Maro’s catches; | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Squire Pope but busks his skinklin’ patches | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| O’ heathen tatters: | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| I pass by hunders, nameless wretches, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| That ape their betters. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| In this braw age o’ wit and lear, | 8 | ········ |
| Will nane the Shepherd’s whistle mair | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Blaw sweetly in its native air, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And rural grace; | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And, wi’ the far-fam’d Grecian, share | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A rival place? | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Yes! there is ane—a Scottish callan! | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| There’s ane; come forrit, honest Allan! | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Thou need na jouk behint the hallan, | 9 | ········· |
| A chiel sae clever; | 5 | ···/˘ |
| The teeth o’ time may gnaw Tantallan, | 9 | ········· |
| But thou’s for ever. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Thou paints auld Nature to the nines, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In thy sweet Caledonian lines; | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Nae gowden stream thro’ myrtle twines, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Where Philomel, | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| While nightly breezes sweep the vines, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Her griefs will tell! | 4 | ···· |
| In gowany glens thy burnie strays, | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| Where bonie lasses bleach their claes, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Or trots by hazelly shaws and braes, | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| Wi’ hawthorns gray, | 4 | ·/·· |
| Where blackbirds join the shepherd’s lays, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| At close o’ day. | 4 | ···· |
| Thy rural loves are Nature’s sel’; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Nae bombast spates o’ nonsense swell; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Nae snap conceits, but that sweet spell | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| O’ witchin love, | 4 | ···· |
| That charm that can the strongest quell, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The sternest move. | 4 | ·/˘· |
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