Hame
The warl it's dottit wi' hamesAs thick as gowans o' the green,Aye bonnier ilk ane nor the laveTo him wha there opent his een.
An' mony an' bonny's the hameThat lies neth auld Scotlan's crests,Her hills an' her mountains they are the sidesO' a muckle nest o' nests.
His lies i' the dip o' a muirWi' a twa three elder trees,A lanely cot wi' a sough o' win',An' a simmer bum o' bees;
An' mine in a bloomin strath,Wi' a river rowin by,Wi' the green corn glintin i' the sun,An' a lowin o' the kye;
An' yours whaur the chimleys auldStan up i' the gloamin paleWi' the line o' a gran' sierra drawnOn the lift as sharp's wi' a nail.
But whether by ingle-neukOn a creepie ye sookit yer thumb,Dreamin, an' watchin the blue peat-reekWamle oot up the muckle lum,
Or yer wee feet sank i' the furAfore a bleezin hearth,Wi' the curtains drawn, shuttin oot the toon--Aberdeen, Auld Reekie, or Perth,
It's a naething, nor here nor there;Leal Scots are a'ane thegither!Ilk ane has a hame, an' it's a' the sameWhether in clover or heather!
An' the hert aye turns to the hame--That's whaur oor ain folk wons;An' gien hame binna hame, the hert bauds ayontAbune the stars an' the suns.
For o' a' the hames there's a hameHerty an' warm an' wide,Whaur a' that maks hame ower the big roun earthGangs til its hame to bide.
Words in this poem
- lave v. t.
- To lade, dip, or pour out. [OE. laven. See Lavish.]
- auld a.
- Old; as, Auld Reekie (old smoky), i. e., Edinburgh. [See Old.]
- sough n.
- A small drain; an adit. W. M. Buchanan. [Etymol. uncertain.]
- simmer v. i.
- To boil gently, or with a gentle hissing; to begin to boil. [Prov. E. also simper; -- an onomatopoetic word.]
- strath n.
- A valley of considerable size, through which a river runs; a valley bottom; -- often used in composition with the name of the river; as, Strath Spey, Strathdon, Strathmore. [Gael. srath.]
- sierra n.
- A ridge of mountain and craggy rocks, with a serrated or irregular outline; as, the Sierra Nevada. [Sp., properly, a saw, fr. L. serra a saw. See Serrate.]
- reek n.
- A rick. B. Jonson.
- afore prep.
- Before (in all its senses).
- toon n.
- The reddish brown wood of an East Indian tree (Cedrela Toona) closely resembling the Spanish cedar; also. the tree itself. [Hind. tun, tun, Skr. tunna.]
- leal a.
- Faithful; loyal; true. [OE. leial, another form of loial, F. loyal. See Loyal.]
- 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.]
- roun v. i.
- To whisper. [obs.] Gower. [AS. r, fr. r a rune, secret, mystery; akin to G. raunen to whisper. See Rune.]
- bide v. i.
- To dwell; to inhabit; to abide; to stay. [OE. biden, AS. bidan; akin to OHG. bitan, Goth. beidan, Icel. bi; perh. orig., to wait with trust, and akin to bid. See Bid, v. t., and cf. Abide.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Hame is in the public domain. This text is taken from The poetical works of George MacDonald in two volumes — Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #9984; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: George MacDonald, Hame, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/hame.html, id L22560.
Form and metre
Hame is 40 lines in 10 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 73%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 hames · greenA · lave · eenA
- 2 -A-A hame · crestsA · sides · nestsA
- 3 -A-A muir · treesA · win · beesA
- 5 -A-A auld · paleA · drawn · nailA
- 6 -A-A neuk · thumbA · reek · lumA
- 9 -A-A hame · wonsA · ayont · sunsA
- 10 -A-A hame · wideA · earth · bideA
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The warl it's dottit wi' hames | 7 | ······· |
| As thick as gowans o' the green, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Aye bonnier ilk ane nor the lave | 8 | ········ |
| To him wha there opent his een. | 8 | ········ |
| An' mony an' bonny's the hame | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| That lies neth auld Scotlan's crests, | 7 | ······· |
| Her hills an' her mountains they are the sides | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| O' a muckle nest o' nests. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| His lies i' the dip o' a muir | 8 | ········ |
| Wi' a twa three elder trees, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| A lanely cot wi' a sough o' win', | 10 | ·········· |
| An' a simmer bum o' bees; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| An' mine in a bloomin strath, | 7 | ······· |
| Wi' a river rowin by, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Wi' the green corn glintin i' the sun, | 9 | ········· |
| An' a lowin o' the kye; | 7 | ······· |
| An' yours whaur the chimleys auld | 7 | ······· |
| Stan up i' the gloamin pale | 7 | ······· |
| Wi' the line o' a gran' sierra drawn | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| On the lift as sharp's wi' a nail. | 8 | ········ |
| But whether by ingle-neuk | 7 | ····/˘· |
| On a creepie ye sookit yer thumb, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Dreamin, an' watchin the blue peat-reek | 9 | ········· |
| Wamle oot up the muckle lum, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or yer wee feet sank i' the fur | 8 | ········ |
| Afore a bleezin hearth, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Wi' the curtains drawn, shuttin oot the toon-- | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| Aberdeen, Auld Reekie, or Perth, | 8 | /˘······ |
| It's a naething, nor here nor there; | 8 | ········ |
| Leal Scots are a'ane thegither! | 7 | ······· |
| Ilk ane has a hame, an' it's a' the same | 10 | ·········· |
| Whether in clover or heather! | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| An' the hert aye turns to the hame-- | 8 | ········ |
| That's whaur oor ain folk wons; | 6 | ······ |
| An' gien hame binna hame, the hert bauds ayont | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| Abune the stars an' the suns. | 7 | ······· |
| For o' a' the hames there's a hame | 8 | ········ |
| Herty an' warm an' wide, | 6 | ······ |
| Whaur a' that maks hame ower the big roun earth | 11 | ··········· |
| Gangs til its hame to bide. | 6 | ······ |
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