Presented to the Author by a Lady
Thou flatt’ring mark of friendship kind,Still may thy pages call to mindThe dear, the beauteous donor;Tho’ sweetly female ev’ry part,Yet such a head, and more the heartDoes both the sexes honour:She show’d her taste refin’d and just,When she selected thee;Yet deviating, own I must,For sae approving me:But kind still I’ll mind stillThe giver in the gift;I’ll bless her, an’ wiss herA Friend aboon the lift.
Words in this poem
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
- donor n.
- One who gives or bestows; one who confers anything gratuitously; a benefactor. [F. donneur, OF. daneor, fr. donner. See Donee, and cf. Donator.]
- 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.]
- approving a.
- Expressing approbation; commending; as, an approving smile.
- giver n.
- One who gives; a donor; a bestower; a grantor; one who imparts or distributes.
- wiss adv.
- Certainly; really; indeed. [Aphetic form of iwis, ywis; or fr. Icel. viss certain. See Ywis.]
- aboon prep.
- and adv. Above.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Presented to the Author by a Lady 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, Presented to the Author by a Lady, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/presented-to-the-author-by-a-lady.html, id L03018.
Form and metre
Presented to the Author by a Lady is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% 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 AA-BB-CDCD-E-E kindA · mindA · donor · partB · heartB · honour · justC · theeD · mustC · meD · still · giftE · her · liftE
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 flatt’ring mark of friendship kind, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Still may thy pages call to mind | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The dear, the beauteous donor; | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| Tho’ sweetly female ev’ry part, | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| Yet such a head, and more the heart | 8 | ········ |
| Does both the sexes honour: | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| She show’d her taste refin’d and just, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| When she selected thee; | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Yet deviating, own I must, | 8 | ·/˘·˘··· |
| For sae approving me: | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| But kind still I’ll mind still | 6 | ······ |
| The giver in the gift; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I’ll bless her, an’ wiss her | 6 | ······ |
| A Friend aboon the lift. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
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.