The Laverock
Laverock i' the lift,Hae ye nae sang-thrift,'At ye scatter 't sae heigh, and lat it a' drift?Wasterfu laverock!
Dinna ye ken'At ye hing ower menWha haena a sang or a penny to spen?Hertless laverock!
But up there you,I' the bow o' the blue,Haud skirlin on as gien a' war new!Toom-heidit laverock!
Haith, ye're ower blythe!I see a great scytheSwing whaur yer nestie lies, doon i' the lythe,Liltin laverock!
Eh, sic a soun!Birdie, come doun,Ye're fey to sing sic a merry tune!Gowkit laverock!
Come to yer nest;Yer wife's sair prest,She's clean worn oot wi' duin her best!Rovin laverock!
Winna ye haud?Ye're surely mad!Is there naebody there to gie ye a dad,Menseless laverock?
Come doon and conform,Pyke an honest worm,And hap yer bairns frae the comin storm,Spendrife laverock!
My nestie it liethI' the how o' a ban';The swing o' the scythe'Ill miss 't by a span.
The lift it's sae cheery!The win' it's sae free!I hing ower my dearie,And sing 'cause I see.
My wifie's wee breistieGrows warm wi' my sang,And ilk crumpled-up beastieKens no to think lang.
Up here the sun sings, butHe only shines there!Ye haena nae wings, butCome up on a prayer.
Ye wee daurin cratur,Ye rant and ye singLike an oye o' auld NaturTa'en hame by the king!
Ye wee feathert priestie,Yer bells i' yer thro't,Yer altar yer breistie,Yer mitre forgot--
Offerin and Aaron,Ye burn hert and brain;And dertin and daurin,Flee back to yer ain!
Ye wee minor prophet,It's 'maist my belief'At I'm doon in Tophet,And you abune grief!
Ye've deavt me and dauditAnd ca'd me a fule:I'm nearhan' persuauditTo gang to your schule!
For, birdie, I'm thinkinYe ken mair nor me--Gien ye haena been drinkin,And sing as ye see.
Ye maun hae a sicht 'atSees gay and far ben,And a hert, for the micht o' 't,Wad sair for nine men!
There's somebody's been tilRoun saft to ye whaSaid birdies are seen til,And e'en whan they fa'!
Words in this poem
- laverock n.
- The lark. [Old Eng. & Scot.] Gower. [See Lark the bird.]
- toom a.
- Empty. [Obs. or Prov.Eng. & Scot.] Wyclif. [OE. tom, fr. Icel. tomr; akin to Dan. & Sw. tom, As. tome, adv. Cf. Teem to pour.]
- lythe a.
- Soft; flexible. [See Lithe, a.]
- birdie n.
- A pretty or dear little bird; -- a pet name.
- prest a.
- Ready; prompt; prepared. [OF. prest, F. prêt, fr. L. praestus ready. Cf. Presto.]
- auld a.
- Old; as, Auld Reekie (old smoky), i. e., Edinburgh. [See Old.]
- mitre n.
- A covering for the head, worn on solemn occasions by church dignitaries. It has been made in many forms, the present form being a lofty cap with two points or peaks. Fairholt.
- tophet n.
- A place lying east or southeast of Jerusalem, in the valley of Hinnom. [Written also Topheth.] [Heb. tophet, literally, a place to be spit upon, an abominable place, fr. tph to spit out.]
- roun v. i.
- To whisper. [obs.] Gower. [AS. r, fr. r a rune, secret, mystery; akin to G. raunen to whisper. See Rune.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Laverock 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 Laverock, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/the-laverock.html, id L22545.
Form and metre
The Laverock is 80 lines in 20 stanzas of 4 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABAB, in 6 of the 20 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is short measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%).
See other poems in short measure.
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 AAA- liftA · thriftA · driftA · laverock
- 2 AA-- kenA · menA · spen · laverock
- 3 AAA- youA · blueA · newA · laverock
- 4 AAA- blytheA · scytheA · lytheA · laverock
- 5 AAA- sounA · dounA · tuneA · laverock
- 6 AAA- nestA · prestA · bestA · laverock
- 7 -AA- haud · madA · dadA · laverock
- 8 A-A- conformA · worm · stormA · laverock
- 9 ABAB liethA · banB · scytheA · spanB
- 10 -A-A cheery · freeA · dearie · seeA
- 11 -A-A breistie · sangA · beastie · langA
- 12 ABAB butA · thereB · butA · prayerB
- 13 ABAB craturA · singB · naturA · kingB
- 14 A-A- priestieA · thro't · breistieA · forgot
- 15 AA-A aaronA · brainA · daurin · ainA
- 16 ABAB prophetA · beliefB · tophetA · griefB
- 17 ABAB dauditA · fuleB · persuauditA · schuleB
- 18 ABAB thinkinA · meB · drinkinA · seeB
- 19 -A-A at · benA · t · menA
- 20 A-A- tilA · wha · tilA · fa
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 short measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Laverock i' the lift, | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| Hae ye nae sang-thrift, | 5 | ····· |
| 'At ye scatter 't sae heigh, and lat it a' drift? | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| Wasterfu laverock! | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Dinna ye ken | 4 | ···· |
| 'At ye hing ower men | 6 | ······ |
| Wha haena a sang or a penny to spen? | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Hertless laverock! | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| But up there you, | 4 | ···· |
| I' the bow o' the blue, | 6 | ······ |
| Haud skirlin on as gien a' war new! | 9 | ········· |
| Toom-heidit laverock! | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Haith, ye're ower blythe! | 5 | ····· |
| I see a great scythe | 5 | ····· |
| Swing whaur yer nestie lies, doon i' the lythe, | 10 | ·········· |
| Liltin laverock! | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| Eh, sic a soun! | 4 | ···· |
| Birdie, come doun, | 4 | /˘·· |
| Ye're fey to sing sic a merry tune! | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Gowkit laverock! | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| Come to yer nest; | 4 | ···· |
| Yer wife's sair prest, | 4 | ···· |
| She's clean worn oot wi' duin her best! | 8 | ········ |
| Rovin laverock! | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| Winna ye haud? | 4 | ···· |
| Ye're surely mad! | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Is there naebody there to gie ye a dad, | 11 | ··········· |
| Menseless laverock? | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Come doon and conform, | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Pyke an honest worm, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| And hap yer bairns frae the comin storm, | 9 | ········· |
| Spendrife laverock! | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| My nestie it lieth | 5 | ····· |
| I' the how o' a ban'; | 6 | ······ |
| The swing o' the scythe | 5 | ····· |
| 'Ill miss 't by a span. | 6 | ······ |
| The lift it's sae cheery! | 6 | ····/˘ |
| The win' it's sae free! | 5 | ····· |
| I hing ower my dearie, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And sing 'cause I see. | 5 | ····· |
| My wifie's wee breistie | 5 | ····· |
| Grows warm wi' my sang, | 5 | ····· |
| And ilk crumpled-up beastie | 7 | ··/˘·/˘ |
| Kens no to think lang. | 5 | ····· |
| Up here the sun sings, but | 6 | ······ |
| He only shines there! | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Ye haena nae wings, but | 6 | ······ |
| Come up on a prayer. | 5 | ····· |
| Ye wee daurin cratur, | 6 | ······ |
| Ye rant and ye sing | 5 | ····· |
| Like an oye o' auld Natur | 7 | ······· |
| Ta'en hame by the king! | 5 | ····· |
| Ye wee feathert priestie, | 6 | ······ |
| Yer bells i' yer thro't, | 5 | ····· |
| Yer altar yer breistie, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Yer mitre forgot-- | 5 | ·/˘˘/ |
| Offerin and Aaron, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Ye burn hert and brain; | 5 | ····· |
| And dertin and daurin, | 6 | ······ |
| Flee back to yer ain! | 5 | ····· |
| Ye wee minor prophet, | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| It's 'maist my belief | 5 | ···˘/ |
| 'At I'm doon in Tophet, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| And you abune grief! | 5 | ····· |
| Ye've deavt me and daudit | 6 | ······ |
| And ca'd me a fule: | 6 | ······ |
| I'm nearhan' persuaudit | 6 | ······ |
| To gang to your schule! | 6 | ······ |
| For, birdie, I'm thinkin | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Ye ken mair nor me-- | 5 | ····· |
| Gien ye haena been drinkin, | 7 | ······· |
| And sing as ye see. | 5 | ····· |
| Ye maun hae a sicht 'at | 6 | ······ |
| Sees gay and far ben, | 5 | ····· |
| And a hert, for the micht o' 't, | 8 | ········ |
| Wad sair for nine men! | 5 | ····· |
| There's somebody's been til | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Roun saft to ye wha | 5 | ····· |
| Said birdies are seen til, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And e'en whan they fa'! | 5 | ····· |
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.