Song, Composed in Spring
Again rejoicing Nature seesHer robe assume its vernal hues:Her leafy locks wave in the breeze,All freshly steep’d in morning dews.
Chorus.—And maun I still on Menie doat,And bear the scorn that’s in her e’e?For it’s jet, jet black, an’ it’s like a hawk,An’ it winna let a body be.
In vain to me the cowslips blaw,In vain to me the vi’lets spring;In vain to me in glen or shaw,The mavis and the lintwhite sing.And maun I still, &c.
The merry ploughboy cheers his team,Wi’ joy the tentie seedsman stalks;But life to me’s a weary dream,A dream of ane that never wauks.And maun I still, &c.
The wanton coot the water skims,Amang the reeds the ducklings cry,The stately swan majestic swims,And ev’ry thing is blest but I.And maun I still, &c.
The sheep-herd steeks his faulding slap,And o’er the moorlands whistles shill:Wi’ wild, unequal, wand’ring step,I meet him on the dewy hill.And maun I still, &c.
And when the lark, ’tween light and dark,Blythe waukens by the daisy’s side,And mounts and sings on flittering wings,A woe-worn ghaist I hameward glide.And maun I still, &c.
Come winter, with thine angry howl,And raging, bend the naked tree;Thy gloom will soothe my cheerless soul,When nature all is sad like me!And maun I still, &c.
Wee, modest crimson-tipped flow’r,Thou’s met me in an evil hour;For I maun crush amang the stoureThy slender stem:To spare thee now is past my pow’r,Thou bonie gem.
Alas! it’s no thy neibor sweet,The bonie lark, companion meet,Bending thee ’mang the dewy weet,Wi’ spreckl’d breast!When upward-springing, blythe, to greetThe purpling east.
Cauld blew the bitter-biting northUpon thy early, humble birth;Yet cheerfully thou glinted forthAmid the storm,Scarce rear’d above the parent-earthThy tender form.
The flaunting flow’rs our gardens yield,High shelt’ring woods and wa’s maun shield;But thou, beneath the random bieldO’ clod or stane,Adorns the histie stibble field,Unseen, alane.
There, in thy scanty mantle clad,Thy snawie bosom sun-ward spread,Thou lifts thy unassuming headIn humble guise;But now the share uptears thy bed,And low thou lies!
Such is the fate of artless maid,Sweet flow’ret of the rural shade!By love’s simplicity betray’d,And guileless trust;Till she, like thee, all soil’d, is laidLow i’ the dust.
Such is the fate of simple bard,On life’s rough ocean luckless starr’d!Unskilful he to note the cardOf prudent lore,Till billows rage, and gales blow hard,And whelm him o’er!
Such fate to suffering worth is giv’n,Who long with wants and woes has striv’n,By human pride or cunning driv’nTo mis’ry’s brink;Till wrench’d of ev’ry stay but Heav’n,He, ruin’d, sink!
Ev’n thou who mourn’st the Daisy’s fate,That fate is thine—no distant date;Stern Ruin’s plough-share drives elate,Full on thy bloom,Till crush’d beneath the furrow’s weight,Shall be thy doom!
Words in this poem 23
- shaw n.
- A thicket; a small wood or grove. [Obs. or Prov.Eng. & Scot.] [OE. schawe, scha, thicket, grove, AS. scaga; akin to Dan. skov, Sw. skog, Icel. sk.]
- mavis n.
- The European throstle or song thrush (Turdus musicus). [F. mauvis, Arm. milvid, milfid, milc'hhouid, Corn. melhuez.]
- ploughboy n.
- A boy that drives or guides a team in plowing; a young rustic.
- seedsman n.
- A sower; one who sows or scatters seed.
- shill v. t.
- To put under cover; to sheal. [Prov.ng.] Brockett. [Cf. Sheal.]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- soothe v. t.
- To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
- weet v. i.
- To know; to wit. Tyndale. [See Wit to know.]
- cheerfully adv.
- In a cheerful manner, gladly.
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- 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]
- bield n.
- A shelter. Same as Beild.
- clod n.
- A lump or mass, especially of earth, turf, or clay. [OE. clodde, latter form of clot. See Clot.]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- unassuming a.
- Not assuming; not bold or forward; not arrogant or presuming; humble; modest; retiring; as, an unassuming youth; unassuming manners.
- guileless a.
- Free from guile; artless.
- luckless a.
- Being without luck; unpropitious; unfortunate; unlucky; meeting with ill success or bad fortune; as, a luckless gamester; a luckless maid.
- whelm v. t.
- To cover with water or other fluid; to cover by immersion in something that envelops on all sides; to overwhelm; to ingulf.
- brink n.
- The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge, as of a river or pit; a verge; a border; as, the brink of a chasm. Also Fig. [Dan. brink edge, verge; akin to Sw. brink declivity, hill, Icel. brekka; cf. LG. brink a grassy hill, W. bryn hill, bryncyn hillock.]
- wrench n.
- Trick; deceit; fraud; stratagem. [OE. wrench deceit, AS. wrenc deceit, a twisting; akin to G. rank intrigue, crookedness, renken to bend, twist, and E. wring. Wring, and cf. Ranch, v. t.]
- elate a.
- Lifted up; raised; elevated. [L. elatus elevated, fig., elated, proud (the figure, perh., being borrowed from a prancing horse); e out + latus (used as p. p. of ferre to bear), for tlatus, a]
- 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
Song, Composed in Spring 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, Song, Composed in Spring, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/song-composed-in-spring.html, id L03019.
Form and metre
Song, Composed in Spring is 92 lines in 17 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 12% 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 ABAB seesA · huesB · breezeA · dewsB
- 2 -A-A doat · e'eA · hawk · beA
- 3 ABAB- blawA · springB · shawA · singB · —
- 4 ABAB- teamA · stalksB · dreamA · wauksB · —
- 5 ABAB- skimsA · cryB · swimsA · iB · —
- 6 -A-A- slap · shillA · step · hillA · —
- 7 -A-A- dark · sideA · wings · glideA · —
- 8 -A-A- howl · treeA · soul · meA · —
- 9 ABBCAC flow'rA · hourB · stoureB · stemC · pow'rA · gemC
- 10 AAA-A- sweetA · meetA · weetA · breast · greetA · east
- 11 ABACBC northA · birthB · forthA · stormC · earthB · formC
- 12 AAABAB yieldA · shieldA · bieldA · staneB · fieldA · alaneB
- 13 -AABAB clad · spreadA · headA · guiseB · bedA · liesB
- 14 AAABAB maidA · shadeA · betray'dA · trustB · laidA · dustB
- 15 AAA-A- bardA · starr'dA · cardA · lore · hardA · o'er
- 16 AAAB-B giv'nA · striv'nA · driv'nA · brinkB · heav'n · sinkB
- 17 AAABAB fateA · dateA · elateA · bloomB · weightA · doomB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Again rejoicing Nature sees | 8 | ˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| Her robe assume its vernal hues: | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Her leafy locks wave in the breeze, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| All freshly steep’d in morning dews. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Chorus.—And maun I still on Menie doat, | 10 | /˘········ |
| And bear the scorn that’s in her e’e? | 8 | ········ |
| For it’s jet, jet black, an’ it’s like a hawk, | 10 | ·········· |
| An’ it winna let a body be. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| In vain to me the cowslips blaw, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In vain to me the vi’lets spring; | 8 | ········ |
| In vain to me in glen or shaw, | 8 | ········ |
| The mavis and the lintwhite sing. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And maun I still, &c. | 5 | ····· |
| The merry ploughboy cheers his team, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Wi’ joy the tentie seedsman stalks; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But life to me’s a weary dream, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A dream of ane that never wauks. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And maun I still, &c. | 5 | ····· |
| The wanton coot the water skims, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Amang the reeds the ducklings cry, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The stately swan majestic swims, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| And ev’ry thing is blest but I. | 8 | ········ |
| And maun I still, &c. | 5 | ····· |
| The sheep-herd steeks his faulding slap, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And o’er the moorlands whistles shill: | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| Wi’ wild, unequal, wand’ring step, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| I meet him on the dewy hill. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And maun I still, &c. | 5 | ····· |
| And when the lark, ’tween light and dark, | 8 | ········ |
| Blythe waukens by the daisy’s side, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And mounts and sings on flittering wings, | 9 | ········· |
| A woe-worn ghaist I hameward glide. | 9 | ········· |
| And maun I still, &c. | 5 | ····· |
| Come winter, with thine angry howl, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And raging, bend the naked tree; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Thy gloom will soothe my cheerless soul, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When nature all is sad like me! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And maun I still, &c. | 5 | ····· |
| Wee, modest crimson-tipped flow’r, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘· |
| Thou’s met me in an evil hour; | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| For I maun crush amang the stoure | 8 | ········ |
| Thy slender stem: | 4 | ·/˘· |
| To spare thee now is past my pow’r, | 8 | ········ |
| Thou bonie gem. | 4 | ···· |
| Alas! it’s no thy neibor sweet, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| The bonie lark, companion meet, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Bending thee ’mang the dewy weet, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Wi’ spreckl’d breast! | 3 | ··· |
| When upward-springing, blythe, to greet | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The purpling east. | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| Cauld blew the bitter-biting north | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Upon thy early, humble birth; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Yet cheerfully thou glinted forth | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Amid the storm, | 4 | ˘/·· |
| Scarce rear’d above the parent-earth | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thy tender form. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| The flaunting flow’rs our gardens yield, | 8 | ·/˘·//˘· |
| High shelt’ring woods and wa’s maun shield; | 8 | ········ |
| But thou, beneath the random bield | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| O’ clod or stane, | 4 | ···· |
| Adorns the histie stibble field, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Unseen, alane. | 4 | ˘/˘/ |
| There, in thy scanty mantle clad, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Thy snawie bosom sun-ward spread, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thou lifts thy unassuming head | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| In humble guise; | 4 | ·/˘· |
| But now the share uptears thy bed, | 8 | ········ |
| And low thou lies! | 4 | ···· |
| Such is the fate of artless maid, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Sweet flow’ret of the rural shade! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| By love’s simplicity betray’d, | 8 | ··˘/˘˘˘/ |
| And guileless trust; | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Till she, like thee, all soil’d, is laid | 8 | ········ |
| Low i’ the dust. | 4 | ···· |
| Such is the fate of simple bard, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| On life’s rough ocean luckless starr’d! | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Unskilful he to note the card | 8 | ········ |
| Of prudent lore, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Till billows rage, and gales blow hard, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And whelm him o’er! | 4 | ···· |
| Such fate to suffering worth is giv’n, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Who long with wants and woes has striv’n, | 8 | ········ |
| By human pride or cunning driv’n | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To mis’ry’s brink; | 4 | ···· |
| Till wrench’d of ev’ry stay but Heav’n, | 8 | ········ |
| He, ruin’d, sink! | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Ev’n thou who mourn’st the Daisy’s fate, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That fate is thine—no distant date; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Stern Ruin’s plough-share drives elate, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Full on thy bloom, | 4 | ···· |
| Till crush’d beneath the furrow’s weight, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Shall be thy doom! | 4 | ···· |
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