To John Kennedy, Dumfries House
Now, Kennedy, if foot or horseE’er bring you in by Mauchlin corse,(Lord, man, there’s lasses there wad forceA hermit’s fancy;An’ down the gate in faith they’re worse,An’ mair unchancy).
But as I’m sayin, please step to Dow’s,An’ taste sic gear as Johnie brews,Till some bit callan bring me newsThat ye are there;An’ if we dinna hae a bouze,I’se ne’er drink mair.
It’s no I like to sit an’ swallow,Then like a swine to puke an’ wallow;But gie me just a true good fallow,Wi’ right ingine,And spunkie ance to mak us mellow,An’ then we’ll shine.
Now if ye’re ane o’ warl’s folk,Wha rate the wearer by the cloak,An’ sklent on poverty their joke,Wi’ bitter sneer,Wi’ you nae friendship I will troke,Nor cheap nor dear.
But if, as I’m informed weel,Ye hate as ill’s the very deilThe flinty heart that canna feel—Come, sir, here’s to you!Hae, there’s my haun’, I wiss you weel,An’ gude be wi’ you.
Robt. Burness.Mossgiel, 3rd March, 1786.
Words in this poem
- corse n.
- A living body or its bulk. [OF. cors, F. corps. See Corpse.]
- unchancy a.
- Happening at a bad time; unseasonable; inconvenient. A. Trollope. [Pref un- + Scot. chancy fortunate, safe.]
- puke v. i.
- To eject the contests of the stomach; to vomit; to spew. [Cf. G. spucken to spit, and E. spew.]
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- informed a.
- Unformed or ill-formed; deformed; shapeless.
- 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.]
- deil n.
- Devil; -- spelt also deel. Deil's buckie. See under Buckie.
- canna n.
- A measure of length in Italy, varying from six to seven feet. [It.]
- wiss adv.
- Certainly; really; indeed. [Aphetic form of iwis, ywis; or fr. Icel. viss certain. See Ywis.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To John Kennedy, Dumfries House 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, To John Kennedy, Dumfries House, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/to-john-kennedy-dumfries-house.html, id L03016.
Form and metre
To John Kennedy, Dumfries House is 32 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.7 syllables. 6 lines end 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 AAAB-B horseA · corseA · forceA · fancyB · worse · unchancyB
- 2 ABBCAC dow'sA · brewsB · newsB · thereC · bouzeA · mairC
- 3 AA---- swallowA · wallowA · fallow · ingine · mellow · shine
- 4 AAABAB folkA · cloakA · jokeA · sneerB · trokeA · dearB
- 5 A-ABAB weelA · deil · feelA · youB · weelA · youB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Now, Kennedy, if foot or horse | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| E’er bring you in by Mauchlin corse, | 8 | ········ |
| (Lord, man, there’s lasses there wad force | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A hermit’s fancy; | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| An’ down the gate in faith they’re worse, | 8 | ········ |
| An’ mair unchancy). | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| But as I’m sayin, please step to Dow’s, | 8 | ········ |
| An’ taste sic gear as Johnie brews, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Till some bit callan bring me news | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That ye are there; | 4 | ···· |
| An’ if we dinna hae a bouze, | 8 | ········ |
| I’se ne’er drink mair. | 4 | ···· |
| It’s no I like to sit an’ swallow, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Then like a swine to puke an’ wallow; | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| But gie me just a true good fallow, | 9 | ·······/· |
| Wi’ right ingine, | 4 | ···· |
| And spunkie ance to mak us mellow, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| An’ then we’ll shine. | 4 | ···· |
| Now if ye’re ane o’ warl’s folk, | 7 | ······· |
| Wha rate the wearer by the cloak, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An’ sklent on poverty their joke, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Wi’ bitter sneer, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Wi’ you nae friendship I will troke, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Nor cheap nor dear. | 4 | ···· |
| But if, as I’m informed weel, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Ye hate as ill’s the very deil | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The flinty heart that canna feel— | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Come, sir, here’s to you! | 5 | ····· |
| Hae, there’s my haun’, I wiss you weel, | 8 | ········ |
| An’ gude be wi’ you. | 5 | ····· |
| Robt. Burness. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Mossgiel, 3rd March, 1786. | 4 | ···· |
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