The Cardin O’t, the Spinnin O’t
I coft a stane o’ haslock woo’,To mak a wab to Johnie o’t;For Johnie is my only jo,I loe him best of onie yet.
Chorus—The cardin’ o’t, the spinnin’ o’t,The warpin’ o’t, the winnin’ o’t;When ilka ell cost me a groat,The tailor staw the lynin’ o’t.
For tho’ his locks be lyart grey,And tho’ his brow be beld aboon,Yet I hae seen him on a day,The pride of a’ the parishen.The cardin o’t, &c.
Words in this poem
- groat n.
- An old English silver coin, equal to four pence. [LG. grote, orig., great, that is, a great piece of coin, larger than other coins in former use. See Great.]
- staw v. i.
- To be fixed or set; to stay. [Cf. Dan. staae to stand, Sw. stå. *163.]
- aboon prep.
- and adv. Above.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Cardin O’t, the Spinnin O’t 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, The Cardin O’t, the Spinnin O’t, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/the-cardin-o-t-the-spinnin-o-t.html, id L03421.
Form and metre
The Cardin O’t, the Spinnin O’t is 13 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 1 line ends 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.
- 2 AA-A o'tA · o'tA · groat · o'tA
- 3 A-A-- greyA · aboon · dayA · parishen · —
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I coft a stane o’ haslock woo’, | 8 | ········ |
| To mak a wab to Johnie o’t; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For Johnie is my only jo, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| I loe him best of onie yet. | 8 | ········ |
| Chorus—The cardin’ o’t, the spinnin’ o’t, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| The warpin’ o’t, the winnin’ o’t; | 8 | ········ |
| When ilka ell cost me a groat, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The tailor staw the lynin’ o’t. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For tho’ his locks be lyart grey, | 7 | ······· |
| And tho’ his brow be beld aboon, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Yet I hae seen him on a day, | 8 | ········ |
| The pride of a’ the parishen. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| The cardin o’t, &c. | 5 | ·/˘·· |
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.