Song
Behind yon hills where Lugar flows,’Mang moors an’ mosses many, O,The wintry sun the day has clos’d,And I’ll awa to Nanie, O.
The westlin wind blaws loud an’ shill;The night’s baith mirk and rainy, O;But I’ll get my plaid an’ out I’ll steal,An’ owre the hill to Nanie, O.
My Nanie’s charming, sweet, an’ young;Nae artfu’ wiles to win ye, O:May ill befa’ the flattering tongueThat wad beguile my Nanie, O.
Her face is fair, her heart is true;As spotless as she’s bonie, O:The op’ning gowan, wat wi’ dew,Nae purer is than Nanie, O.
A country lad is my degree,An’ few there be that ken me, O;But what care I how few they be,I’m welcome aye to Nanie, O.
My riches a’s my penny-fee,An’ I maun guide it cannie, O;But warl’s gear ne’er troubles me,My thoughts are a’ my Nanie, O.
Our auld guidman delights to viewHis sheep an’ kye thrive bonie, O;But I’m as blythe that hands his pleugh,An’ has nae care but Nanie, O.
Come weel, come woe, I care na by;I’ll tak what Heav’n will sen’ me, O:Nae ither care in life have I,But live, an’ love my Nanie, O.
Words in this poem
- wintry a.
- Suitable to winter; resembling winter, or what belongs to winter; brumal; hyemal; cold; stormy; wintery. [AS. wintrig.]
- shill v. t.
- To put under cover; to sheal. [Prov.ng.] Brockett. [Cf. Sheal.]
- mirk a.
- Dark; gloomy; murky. Spenser. Mrs. Browning. [See Murky.]
- gowan n.
- The daisy, or mountain daisy. [Scot., fr. Gael. gugan bud, flower, daisy.]
- auld a.
- Old; as, Auld Reekie (old smoky), i. e., Edinburgh. [See Old.]
- weel
- A kind of trap or snare for fish, made of twigs. Carew. [Prov. E. weel, weal, a wicker basket to catch eels; prob. akin to willow, and so called as made of willow twigs.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song 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, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/song.html, id L02947.
Form and metre
Song is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 6 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 6% 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 -A-A flows · oA · clos'd · oA
- 2 -A-A shill · oA · steal · oA
- 3 ABAB youngA · oB · tongueA · oB
- 4 ABAB trueA · oB · dewA · oB
- 5 ABAB degreeA · oB · beA · oB
- 6 ABAB feeA · oB · meA · oB
- 7 ABAB viewA · oB · pleughA · oB
- 8 ABAB byA · oB · iA · oB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Behind yon hills where Lugar flows, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| ’Mang moors an’ mosses many, O, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The wintry sun the day has clos’d, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And I’ll awa to Nanie, O. | 8 | ········ |
| The westlin wind blaws loud an’ shill; | 8 | ········ |
| The night’s baith mirk and rainy, O; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But I’ll get my plaid an’ out I’ll steal, | 9 | ········· |
| An’ owre the hill to Nanie, O. | 8 | ········ |
| My Nanie’s charming, sweet, an’ young; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Nae artfu’ wiles to win ye, O: | 8 | ········ |
| May ill befa’ the flattering tongue | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That wad beguile my Nanie, O. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Her face is fair, her heart is true; | 8 | ········ |
| As spotless as she’s bonie, O: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The op’ning gowan, wat wi’ dew, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Nae purer is than Nanie, O. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A country lad is my degree, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| An’ few there be that ken me, O; | 8 | ········ |
| But what care I how few they be, | 8 | ········ |
| I’m welcome aye to Nanie, O. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| My riches a’s my penny-fee, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| An’ I maun guide it cannie, O; | 8 | ········ |
| But warl’s gear ne’er troubles me, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| My thoughts are a’ my Nanie, O. | 8 | ········ |
| Our auld guidman delights to view | 8 | /···˘/·· |
| His sheep an’ kye thrive bonie, O; | 8 | ········ |
| But I’m as blythe that hands his pleugh, | 8 | ········ |
| An’ has nae care but Nanie, O. | 8 | ········ |
| Come weel, come woe, I care na by; | 8 | ········ |
| I’ll tak what Heav’n will sen’ me, O: | 8 | ········ |
| Nae ither care in life have I, | 8 | ········ |
| But live, an’ love my Nanie, O. | 8 | ········ |
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.