The Twa Gordons I
There was John Gordon an' Archibold,An' a yerl's twin sons war they;Quhan they war are an' twenty year auldThey fell oot on their ae birthday.
"Turn ye, John Gordon, nae brither to me!Turn ye, fause an' fell!Or doon ye s' gang, as black as a lee,To the muckle deevil o' hell."
"An' quhat for that, Archie Gordon, I pray?Quhat ill hae I dune to thee?""Twa-faced loon, ye sail rue this dayThe answer I'm gauin to gie!
"For it'll be roucher nor lady Janet's,An' loud i' the braid daylicht;An' the wa' to speil is my iron mail,No her castle-wa' by nicht!"
"I speilt the wa' o' her castle brawI' the roarin win' yestreen;An' I sat in her bower till the gloamin sta'Licht-fittit ahint the mune."
"Turn ye, John Gordon--the twasum we s' twin!Turn ye, an' haud yer ain;For ane sall lie on a cauld weet bed--An' I downa curse again!"
"O Archie, Janet is my true love--notna speir leave o' thee!""Gien that be true, the deevil's a sanct,An' ye are no tellin a lee!"
Their suerds they drew, an' the fire-flauchts flew,An' they shiftit wi' fendin feet;An' the blude ran doon, till the grun a' rounLike a verra bog was weet.
"O Archie, I hae gotten a cauld supper--O' steel, but shortest grace!Ae grip o' yer han' afore ye gang!An' turn me upo' my face."
But he's turnit himsel upon his heel,An' wordless awa he's gane;An' the corbie-craw i' the aik abuneIs roupin for his ain.
Words in this poem
- auld a.
- Old; as, Auld Reekie (old smoky), i. e., Edinburgh. [See Old.]
- dune n.
- A low hill of drifting sand usually formed on the coats, but often carried far inland by the prevailing winds. [The same word as down: cf. D. duin. See Down a bank of sand.]
- braw a.
- Well-dressed; handsome; smart; brave; -- used of persons or their clothing, etc.; as, a braw lad.
- yestreen n.
- Yester-evening; yesternight; last night.
- sall n.
- An East Indian timber tree (Shorea robusta), much used for building purposes. It is of a light brown color, close-grained, and durable. [Hind. s\'bel, Skr. ç\'bela.]
- weet v. i.
- To know; to wit. Tyndale. [See Wit to know.]
- speir v. i.
- To ask. See Spere.
- roun v. i.
- To whisper. [obs.] Gower. [AS. r, fr. r a rune, secret, mystery; akin to G. raunen to whisper. See Rune.]
- afore prep.
- Before (in all its senses).
- wordless a.
- Not using words; not speaking; silent; speechless.
- gane v. i.
- To yawn; to gape. [See Yawn.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Twa Gordons I 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 Twa Gordons I, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/the-twa-gordons-i.html, id L22540.
Form and metre
The Twa Gordons I is 40 lines in 10 stanzas of 4 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 ABAB archiboldA · theyB · auldA · birthdayB
- 2 ABAB meA · fellB · leeA · hellB
- 3 A-A- prayA · thee · dayA · gie
- 4 -A-A janet's · daylichtA · mail · nichtA
- 6 -A-A twin · ainA · bed · againA
- 7 -A-A love · theeA · sanct · leeA
- 8 -A-A flew · feetA · roun · weetA
- 9 -A-A supper · graceA · gang · faceA
- 10 -A-A heel · ganeA · abune · ainA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| There was John Gordon an' Archibold, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| An' a yerl's twin sons war they; | 7 | ······· |
| Quhan they war are an' twenty year auld | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| They fell oot on their ae birthday. | 8 | ······/· |
| "Turn ye, John Gordon, nae brither to me! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Turn ye, fause an' fell! | 5 | ····· |
| Or doon ye s' gang, as black as a lee, | 10 | ·········· |
| To the muckle deevil o' hell." | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| "An' quhat for that, Archie Gordon, I pray? | 11 | ·····/˘/˘·· |
| Quhat ill hae I dune to thee?" | 8 | ········ |
| "Twa-faced loon, ye sail rue this day | 9 | ··˘······ |
| The answer I'm gauin to gie! | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| "For it'll be roucher nor lady Janet's, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/˘ |
| An' loud i' the braid daylicht; | 7 | ······· |
| An' the wa' to speil is my iron mail, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| No her castle-wa' by nicht!" | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| "I speilt the wa' o' her castle braw | 9 | ······/˘· |
| I' the roarin win' yestreen; | 7 | ······· |
| An' I sat in her bower till the gloamin sta' | 11 | ·····/····· |
| Licht-fittit ahint the mune." | 7 | ······· |
| "Turn ye, John Gordon--the twasum we s' twin! | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| Turn ye, an' haud yer ain; | 6 | ······ |
| For ane sall lie on a cauld weet bed-- | 9 | ········· |
| An' I downa curse again!" | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| "O Archie, Janet is my true love-- | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| notna speir leave o' thee!" | 6 | ······ |
| "Gien that be true, the deevil's a sanct, | 9 | ········· |
| An' ye are no tellin a lee!" | 8 | ········ |
| Their suerds they drew, an' the fire-flauchts flew, | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| An' they shiftit wi' fendin feet; | 8 | ········ |
| An' the blude ran doon, till the grun a' roun | 10 | ·········· |
| Like a verra bog was weet. | 7 | ······· |
| "O Archie, I hae gotten a cauld supper-- | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| O' steel, but shortest grace! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Ae grip o' yer han' afore ye gang! | 9 | ·····˘/·· |
| An' turn me upo' my face." | 7 | ······· |
| But he's turnit himsel upon his heel, | 10 | ·········· |
| An' wordless awa he's gane; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| An' the corbie-craw i' the aik abune | 10 | ·········· |
| Is roupin for his ain. | 6 | ······ |
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.