The Burnie
The water ran doon frae the heich hope-heid,Wi' a Rin, burnie, rin;It wimpled, an' waggled, an' sang a screedO' nonsense, an' wadna blinWi' its Rin, burnie, rin.
Frae the hert o' the warl, wi' a swirl an' a sway,An' a Rin, burnie, rin,That water lap clear frae the dark til the day,An' singin awa did spin,Wi' its Rin, burnie, rin.
Ae wee bit mile frae the heich hope-heidWi' its Rin, burnie, rin,Mang her yows an' her lammies the herd-lassie stude,An' she loot a tear fa' in,Wi' a Rin, burnie, rin.
Frae the hert o' the maiden that tear-drap raseWi' a Rin, burnie, rin;Wear'ly clim'in up weary waysThere was but a drap to fa' in,Sae laith did that burnie rin.
Twa wee bit miles frae the heich hope-heidWi' its Rin, burnie, rin,Doon creepit a cowerin streakie o' reid,An' it meltit awa withinThe burnie 'at aye did rin.
Frae the hert o' a youth cam the tricklin reid,Wi' its Rin, burnie, rin;It ran an' ran till it left him deid,An' syne it dried up i' the win':That burnie nae mair did rin.
Whan the wimplin burn that frae three herts gaedWi' a Rin, burnie, rin,Cam to the lip o' the sea sae braid,It curled an' groued wi' pain o' sin--But it tuik that burnie in.
Words in this poem
- burnie n.
- A small brook. Burns. [See 4th Burn.]
- screed n.
- A breach or rent; a breaking forth into a loud, shrill sound; as, martial screeds. [See 1st Screed. For sense 2 cf. also Gael. sgread an outcry.]
- blin v. t.
- To stop; to cease; to desist. [OE. blinnen, AS. blinnan; pref. be- + linnan to cease.]
- swirl v. t.
- To whirl, or cause to whirl, as in an eddy. [Akin to Norw. svirla to whirl, freq. of sverra to whirl, Dan. svirre, G. schwirren to whiz, to buzz. *177. See Swarm, n.]
- lassie n.
- A young girl; a lass.
- loot n.
- The act of plundering. [Hind. l, Skr. l, l, booty, lup to break, spoil; prob. akin to E. rob.]
- 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,]
- syne adv.
- Afterwards; since; ago. R. of Brunne. [See Since.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Burnie 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 Burnie, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/the-burnie.html, id L22559.
Form and metre
The Burnie is 35 lines in 7 stanzas of 5 lines each. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
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-AA heid · rinA · screed · blinA · rinA
- 2 ABA-B swayA · rinB · dayA · spin · rinB
- 3 -A--A heid · rinA · stude · in · rinA
- 4 ABA-B raseA · rinB · waysA · in · rinB
- 5 -A--A heid · rinA · reid · within · rinA
- 6 ABA-B reidA · rinB · deidA · win · rinB
- 7 ---AA gaed · rin · braid · sinA · inA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The water ran doon frae the heich hope-heid, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Wi' a Rin, burnie, rin; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| It wimpled, an' waggled, an' sang a screed | 10 | ··˘··˘···· |
| O' nonsense, an' wadna blin | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Wi' its Rin, burnie, rin. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Frae the hert o' the warl, wi' a swirl an' a sway, | 12 | ············ |
| An' a Rin, burnie, rin, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That water lap clear frae the dark til the day, | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| An' singin awa did spin, | 7 | ······· |
| Wi' its Rin, burnie, rin. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Ae wee bit mile frae the heich hope-heid | 9 | ········· |
| Wi' its Rin, burnie, rin, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Mang her yows an' her lammies the herd-lassie stude, | 12 | ·····/˘··/˘· |
| An' she loot a tear fa' in, | 7 | ······· |
| Wi' a Rin, burnie, rin. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Frae the hert o' the maiden that tear-drap rase | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| Wi' a Rin, burnie, rin; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Wear'ly clim'in up weary ways | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| There was but a drap to fa' in, | 8 | ········ |
| Sae laith did that burnie rin. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Twa wee bit miles frae the heich hope-heid | 9 | ········· |
| Wi' its Rin, burnie, rin, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Doon creepit a cowerin streakie o' reid, | 11 | ··········· |
| An' it meltit awa within | 8 | ········ |
| The burnie 'at aye did rin. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Frae the hert o' a youth cam the tricklin reid, | 11 | ··········· |
| Wi' its Rin, burnie, rin; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| It ran an' ran till it left him deid, | 9 | ········· |
| An' syne it dried up i' the win': | 8 | ········ |
| That burnie nae mair did rin. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Whan the wimplin burn that frae three herts gaed | 10 | ·········· |
| Wi' a Rin, burnie, rin, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Cam to the lip o' the sea sae braid, | 9 | ········· |
| It curled an' groued wi' pain o' sin-- | 10 | ··˘··˘···· |
| But it tuik that burnie in. | 7 | ····/˘· |
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.