The Auld Fisher
There was an auld fisher, he sat by the wa',An' luikit oot ower the sea;The bairnies war playin, he smil't on them a',But the tear stude in his e'e.
An' it's--oh to win awa, awa!An' it's, oh to win awaWhaur the bairns come hame, an' the wives they bide,An' God is the father o' a'!
Jocky an' Jeamy an' Tammy oot thereA' i' the boatie gaed doon;An' I'm ower auld to fish ony mair,Sae I hinna the chance to droon!An' it's--oh to win awa, awa! &c.
An' Jeannie she grat to ease her hert,An' she easit hersel awa;But I'm ower auld for the tears to stert,An' sae the sighs maun blaw.
An' it's--oh to win awa, awa! &c.
Lord, steer me hame whaur my Lord has steerit,For I'm tired o' life's rockin sea;An' dinna be lang, for I'm growin that fearit'At I'm ablins ower auld to dee!
An' it's--oh to win awa, awa!An' it's, oh to win awaWhaur the bairns come hame, an' the wives they bide,An' God is the father o' a'!
Words in this poem
- auld a.
- Old; as, Auld Reekie (old smoky), i. e., Edinburgh. [See Old.]
- 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.]
- tammy n.
- A kind of woolen, or woolen and cotton, cloth, often highly glazed, -- used for curtains, sieves, strainers, etc.
- ablins adv.
- Perhaps; possibly. Burns. [See Able.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Auld Fisher 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, The Auld Fisher, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/the-auld-fisher.html, id L22552.
Form and metre
The Auld Fisher is 26 lines in 7 stanzas. The metre is trochaic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 75%).
See other poems in trochaic pentameter.
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 wa · seaA · a · e'eA
- 2 AA-- awaA · awaA · bide · a
- 3 ABAB- thereA · doonB · mairA · droonB · —
- 4 A-A- hertA · awa · stertA · blaw
- 6 ABAB steeritA · seaB · fearitA · deeB
- 7 AA-- awaA · awaA · bide · a
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| There was an auld fisher, he sat by the wa', | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| An' luikit oot ower the sea; | 8 | ········ |
| The bairnies war playin, he smil't on them a', | 9 | ········· |
| But the tear stude in his e'e. | 7 | ······· |
| An' it's--oh to win awa, awa! | 9 | ········· |
| An' it's, oh to win awa | 7 | ······· |
| Whaur the bairns come hame, an' the wives they bide, | 10 | ·········· |
| An' God is the father o' a'! | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Jocky an' Jeamy an' Tammy oot there | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| A' i' the boatie gaed doon; | 7 | ······· |
| An' I'm ower auld to fish ony mair, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Sae I hinna the chance to droon! | 8 | ········ |
| An' it's--oh to win awa, awa! &c. | 10 | ·········· |
| An' Jeannie she grat to ease her hert, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| An' she easit hersel awa; | 8 | ········ |
| But I'm ower auld for the tears to stert, | 10 | ·········· |
| An' sae the sighs maun blaw. | 6 | ······ |
| An' it's--oh to win awa, awa! &c. | 10 | ·········· |
| Lord, steer me hame whaur my Lord has steerit, | 10 | ·········· |
| For I'm tired o' life's rockin sea; | 10 | ··/˘˘····· |
| An' dinna be lang, for I'm growin that fearit | 12 | ············ |
| 'At I'm ablins ower auld to dee! | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| An' it's--oh to win awa, awa! | 9 | ········· |
| An' it's, oh to win awa | 7 | ······· |
| Whaur the bairns come hame, an' the wives they bide, | 10 | ·········· |
| An' God is the father o' a'! | 8 | ····/˘·· |
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