Postscript
The Kirk an’ State may join an’ tell,To do sic things I maunna:The Kirk an’ State may gae to hell,And I’ll gae to my Anna.
She is the sunshine o’ my e’e,To live but her I canna;Had I on earth but wishes three,The first should be my Anna.
Words in this poem
- kirk n.
- A church or the church, in the various senses of the word; esp., the Church of Scotland as distinguished from other reformed churches, or from the Roman Catholic Church. Jamieson. [Scot.; cf. Icel. kirkja, of Greek origin. See Church.]
- anna n.
- An East Indian money of account, the sixteenth of a rupee, or about 2 [Hindi ana.]
- 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.
- canna n.
- A measure of length in Italy, varying from six to seven feet. [It.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Postscript 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, Postscript, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/postscript-2.html, id L03211.
Form and metre
Postscript is 8 lines in 2 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.5 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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 ABAB tellA · maunnaB · hellA · annaB
- 2 ABAB e'eA · cannaB · threeA · annaB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The Kirk an’ State may join an’ tell, | 8 | ········ |
| To do sic things I maunna: | 7 | ······· |
| The Kirk an’ State may gae to hell, | 8 | ········ |
| And I’ll gae to my Anna. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| She is the sunshine o’ my e’e, | 8 | ···/···· |
| To live but her I canna; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Had I on earth but wishes three, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The first should be my Anna. | 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.