Up in the Morning Early
Cauld blaws the wind frae east to west,The drift is driving sairly;Sae loud and shill’s I hear the blast—I’m sure it’s winter fairly.
Chorus.—Up in the morning’s no for me,Up in the morning early;When a’ the hills are covered wi’ snaw,I’m sure it’s winter fairly.
The birds sit chittering in the thorn,A’ day they fare but sparely;And lang’s the night frae e’en to morn—I’m sure it’s winter fairly.Up in the morning’s, &c.
Words in this poem
- shill v. t.
- To put under cover; to sheal. [Prov.ng.] Brockett. [Cf. Sheal.]
- fairly adv.
- In a fairmanner; clearly; openly; plainly; fully; distinctly; frankly.
- sparely adv.
- In a spare manner; sparingly.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Up in the Morning Early 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, Up in the Morning Early, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/up-in-the-morning-early.html, id L03122.
Form and metre
Up in the Morning Early is 13 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 5 lines end 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.
- 1 -A-A west · sairlyA · blast · fairlyA
- 3 ABAB- thornA · sparelyB · mornA · fairlyB · —
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cauld blaws the wind frae east to west, | 8 | ········ |
| The drift is driving sairly; | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Sae loud and shill’s I hear the blast— | 8 | ········ |
| I’m sure it’s winter fairly. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Chorus.—Up in the morning’s no for me, | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Up in the morning early; | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| When a’ the hills are covered wi’ snaw, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| I’m sure it’s winter fairly. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| The birds sit chittering in the thorn, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A’ day they fare but sparely; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And lang’s the night frae e’en to morn— | 8 | ········ |
| I’m sure it’s winter fairly. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Up in the morning’s, &c. | 6 | ···/˘· |
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.