The Song of Death
Farewell, thou fair day, thou green earth, and ye skies,Now gay with the broad setting sun;Farewell, loves and friendships, ye dear tender ties,Our race of existence is run!Thou grim King of Terrors; thou Life’s gloomy foe!Go, frighten the coward and slave;Go, teach them to tremble, fell tyrant! but knowNo terrors hast thou to the brave!
Thou strik’st the dull peasant—he sinks in the dark,Nor saves e’en the wreck of a name;Thou strik’st the young hero—a glorious mark;He falls in the blaze of his fame!In the field of proud honour—our swords in our hands,Our King and our country to save;While victory shines on Life’s last ebbing sands,—O! who would not die with the brave!
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Song of Death 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 Song of Death, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/the-song-of-death.html, id L03258.
Form and metre
The Song of Death is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.4 syllables. 6% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in anapaestic 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 ABABCDCD skiesA · sunB · tiesA · runB · foeC · slaveD · knowC · braveD
- 2 ABABCDCD darkA · nameB · markA · fameB · handsC · saveD · sandsC · braveD
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 anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Farewell, thou fair day, thou green earth, and ye skies, | 11 | ·/········· |
| Now gay with the broad setting sun; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Farewell, loves and friendships, ye dear tender ties, | 11 | ·/··/˘··/˘· |
| Our race of existence is run! | 8 | /··˘/˘·· |
| Thou grim King of Terrors; thou Life’s gloomy foe! | 11 | ····/˘··/˘· |
| Go, frighten the coward and slave; | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| Go, teach them to tremble, fell tyrant! but know | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| No terrors hast thou to the brave! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thou strik’st the dull peasant—he sinks in the dark, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Nor saves e’en the wreck of a name; | 8 | ········ |
| Thou strik’st the young hero—a glorious mark; | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| He falls in the blaze of his fame! | 8 | ········ |
| In the field of proud honour—our swords in our hands, | 12 | ·····/˘/··/· |
| Our King and our country to save; | 8 | /··//˘·· |
| While victory shines on Life’s last ebbing sands,— | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| O! who would not die with the brave! | 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.