The Banks o’ the Esk
Gin I were whaur the rowans hangTheir berried heids aside the river,I’d hear the water slip alang,The rowan-leaves abune me shiver;And winds frae Angus braes wad sailTo blaw me dreams owre peat an’ gale.
An’ blawn frae youth, thae dreams o’ mineWad find me, tho’ the rowans hide me,Like hoolets gray they’d flit, an’ syneThey’d fauld their wings an’ licht aside me;And aye the mair content I’d beThe closer that they cam’ to me.
Aside the Esk I’d lay me doon,Atween the rowans and its windin’,An’ tho’ the waters rase to droonA weary carle, I’d no be mindin’;For I wad sleep, my rovin’ past,Upon thae banks o’ dreams at last.
Words in this poem
- berried a.
- Furnished with berries; consisting of a berry; baccate; as, a berried shrub.
- flit a.
- Nimble; quick; swift. See Fleet.
- syne adv.
- Afterwards; since; ago. R. of Brunne. [See Since.]
- fauld n.
- The arch over the dam of a blast furnace; the tymp arch.
- closer n.
- One who, or that which, closes; specifically, a boot closer. See under Boot.
- atween adv.
- Between. Spenser. [See Atwain, and cf. Between.]
- rase v. t.
- To rub along the surface of; to graze. [F. raser, LL. rasare to scrape often, v. freq. fr. L. radere, rasum, to scrape, shave; cf. Skr. rad to scratch, gnaw, L. rodere to gnaw. Cf. Raze, Razee, Razor,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Banks o’ the Esk is in the public domain. This text is taken from Bonnie Joann, and other poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #69484; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Violet Jacob, The Banks o’ the Esk, in Bonnie Joann, and Other Poems (1921), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #69484, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/jacob-bonnie-joann/the-banks-o-the-esk.html, id L21949.
Form and metre
The Banks o’ the Esk is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 ABABCC hangA · riverB · alangA · shiverB · sailC · galeC
- 2 ABABBB mineA · meB · syneA · meB · beB · meB
- 3 ABABCC doonA · windinB · droonA · mindinB · pastC · lastC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Gin I were whaur the rowans hang | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Their berried heids aside the river, | 9 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘ |
| I’d hear the water slip alang, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The rowan-leaves abune me shiver; | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| And winds frae Angus braes wad sail | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To blaw me dreams owre peat an’ gale. | 8 | ········ |
| An’ blawn frae youth, thae dreams o’ mine | 8 | ········ |
| Wad find me, tho’ the rowans hide me, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Like hoolets gray they’d flit, an’ syne | 8 | ········ |
| They’d fauld their wings an’ licht aside me; | 9 | ······˘/· |
| And aye the mair content I’d be | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| The closer that they cam’ to me. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Aside the Esk I’d lay me doon, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Atween the rowans and its windin’, | 9 | ˘/·/˘···· |
| An’ tho’ the waters rase to droon | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A weary carle, I’d no be mindin’; | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| For I wad sleep, my rovin’ past, | 8 | ········ |
| Upon thae banks o’ dreams at last. | 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.