Verses on the Destruction of the Woods Near Drumlanrig
As on the banks o’ wandering Nith,Ae smiling simmer morn I stray’d,And traced its bonie howes and haughs,Where linties sang and lammies play’d,I sat me down upon a craig,And drank my fill o’ fancy’s dream,When from the eddying deep below,Up rose the genius of the stream.
Dark, like the frowning rock, his brow,And troubled, like his wintry wave,And deep, as sughs the boding windAmang his caves, the sigh he gave—“And come ye here, my son,” he cried,“To wander in my birken shade?To muse some favourite Scottish theme,Or sing some favourite Scottish maid?
“There was a time, it’s nae lang syne,Ye might hae seen me in my pride,When a’ my banks sae bravely sawTheir woody pictures in my tide;When hanging beech and spreading elmShaded my stream sae clear and cool:And stately oaks their twisted armsThrew broad and dark across the pool;
“When, glinting thro’ the trees, appear’dThe wee white cot aboon the mill,And peacefu’ rose its ingle reek,That, slowly curling, clamb the hill.But now the cot is bare and cauld,Its leafy bield for ever gane,And scarce a stinted birk is leftTo shiver in the blast its lane.”
“Alas!” quoth I, “what ruefu’ chanceHas twin’d ye o’ your stately trees?Has laid your rocky bosom bare—Has stripped the cleeding o’ your braes?Was it the bitter eastern blast,That scatters blight in early spring?Or was’t the wil’fire scorch’d their boughs,Or canker-worm wi’ secret sting?”
“Nae eastlin blast,” the sprite replied;“It blaws na here sae fierce and fell,And on my dry and halesome banksNae canker-worms get leave to dwell:Man! cruel man!” the genius sighed—As through the cliffs he sank him down—“The worm that gnaw’d my bonie trees,That reptile wears a ducal crown.”
Words in this poem 19
- simmer v. i.
- To boil gently, or with a gentle hissing; to begin to boil. [Prov. E. also simper; -- an onomatopoetic word.]
- 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.]
- drank n.
- Wild oats, or darnel grass. See Drake a plant. [Cf. 3d Drake.]
- wintry a.
- Suitable to winter; resembling winter, or what belongs to winter; brumal; hyemal; cold; stormy; wintery. [AS. wintrig.]
- boding a.
- Foreshowing; presaging; ominous.
- birken v. t.
- To whip with a birch or rod. [From 1st Birk.]
- syne adv.
- Afterwards; since; ago. R. of Brunne. [See Since.]
- bravely adv.
- In a brave manner; courageously; gallantly; valiantly; splendidly; nobly.
- aboon prep.
- and adv. Above.
- ingle n.
- Flame; blaze; a fire; a fireplace. Burns. Ingle nock, the chimney corner. [Gael. & Ir. aingeali fire; cf. L. igniculusi spark, dim. of ignis fire. Cf. Ignite.]
- reek n.
- A rick. B. Jonson.
- bield n.
- A shelter. Same as Beild.
- gane v. i.
- To yawn; to gape. [See Yawn.]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- birk n.
- A small European minnow (Leuciscus phoxinus).
- quoth v. t.
- Said; spoke; uttered; -- used only in the first and third persons in the past tenses, and always followed by its nominative, the word or words said being the object; as, quoth I. quoth he. [AS.cweedhan, imp cwæedh, pl. cwædon; akin to OS. queedhan, OHG. quethan, quedan, Icel. kveedha, Goth. qiþan. sq. root22. Cf. Bequeath.]
- sprite n.
- A spirit; a soul; a shade; also, an apparition. See Spright. [OE. sprit, F. esprit, fr. L. spiritus. See Spirit, and cf. Sprightly.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- ducal a.
- Of or pertaining to a duke. [F. ducal. See Duke.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Verses on the Destruction of the Woods Near Drumlanrig 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, Verses on the Destruction of the Woods Near Drumlanrig, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/verses-on-the-destruction-of-the-woods-near-drumlanrig.html, id L03235.
Form and metre
Verses on the Destruction of the Woods Near Drumlanrig is 48 lines in 6 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 17% 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-B-B nith · stray'dA · haughs · play'dA · craig · dreamB · below · streamB
- 2 -A-A-B-B brow · waveA · wind · gaveA · cried · shadeB · theme · maidB
- 3 -A-A-B-B syne · prideA · saw · tideA · elm · coolB · arms · poolB
- 4 -A-A-B-B appear'd · millA · reek · hillA · cauld · ganeB · left · laneB
- 5 -----A-A chance · trees · bare · braes · blast · springA · boughs · stingA
- 6 AB-BAC-C repliedA · fellB · banks · dwellB · sighedA · downC · trees · crownC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| As on the banks o’ wandering Nith, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Ae smiling simmer morn I stray’d, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And traced its bonie howes and haughs, | 8 | ········ |
| Where linties sang and lammies play’d, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| I sat me down upon a craig, | 8 | ········ |
| And drank my fill o’ fancy’s dream, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When from the eddying deep below, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Up rose the genius of the stream. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Dark, like the frowning rock, his brow, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And troubled, like his wintry wave, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And deep, as sughs the boding wind | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Amang his caves, the sigh he gave— | 8 | ········ |
| “And come ye here, my son,” he cried, | 8 | ········ |
| “To wander in my birken shade? | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To muse some favourite Scottish theme, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Or sing some favourite Scottish maid? | 9 | ······/˘· |
| “There was a time, it’s nae lang syne, | 8 | ········ |
| Ye might hae seen me in my pride, | 8 | ········ |
| When a’ my banks sae bravely saw | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Their woody pictures in my tide; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| When hanging beech and spreading elm | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Shaded my stream sae clear and cool: | 8 | /˘······ |
| And stately oaks their twisted arms | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Threw broad and dark across the pool; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| “When, glinting thro’ the trees, appear’d | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The wee white cot aboon the mill, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| And peacefu’ rose its ingle reek, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| That, slowly curling, clamb the hill. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| But now the cot is bare and cauld, | 8 | ········ |
| Its leafy bield for ever gane, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And scarce a stinted birk is left | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To shiver in the blast its lane.” | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| “Alas!” quoth I, “what ruefu’ chance | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Has twin’d ye o’ your stately trees? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Has laid your rocky bosom bare— | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Has stripped the cleeding o’ your braes? | 8 | ········ |
| Was it the bitter eastern blast, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| That scatters blight in early spring? | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Or was’t the wil’fire scorch’d their boughs, | 8 | ········ |
| Or canker-worm wi’ secret sting?” | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| “Nae eastlin blast,” the sprite replied; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| “It blaws na here sae fierce and fell, | 8 | ········ |
| And on my dry and halesome banks | 9 | ········· |
| Nae canker-worms get leave to dwell: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Man! cruel man!” the genius sighed— | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| As through the cliffs he sank him down— | 8 | ········ |
| “The worm that gnaw’d my bonie trees, | 8 | ········ |
| That reptile wears a ducal crown.” | 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.