Pretty Peg
As I gaed up by yon gate-end,When day was waxin’ weary,Wha did I meet come down the street,But pretty Peg, my dearie!
Her air sae sweet, an’ shape complete,Wi’ nae proportion wanting,The Queen of Love did never moveWi’ motion mair enchanting.
Wi’ linked hands we took the sands,Adown yon winding river;Oh, that sweet hour and shady bower,Forget it shall I never!
Words in this poem
- adown adv.
- From a higher to a lower situation; downward; down, to or on the ground. [OE. adun, adoun, adune. AS. of dune off the hill. See Down.]
- 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
Pretty Peg 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, Pretty Peg, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/pretty-peg.html, id L03381.
Form and metre
Pretty Peg is 12 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 8% 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| As I gaed up by yon gate-end, | 8 | ········ |
| When day was waxin’ weary, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Wha did I meet come down the street, | 8 | ········ |
| But pretty Peg, my dearie! | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Her air sae sweet, an’ shape complete, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Wi’ nae proportion wanting, | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| The Queen of Love did never move | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Wi’ motion mair enchanting. | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Wi’ linked hands we took the sands, | 8 | ··˘····· |
| Adown yon winding river; | 7 | ˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Oh, that sweet hour and shady bower, | 9 | ···/·/˘/˘ |
| Forget it shall I never! | 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.