Robert Bruce’s Address to His Army
You can look down on the battle-field of Bannockburn from StirlingCastle, Scotland, near which stands a magnificent statue of Robert, theBruce. How often have I trodden over the old battle-field. The monumentof William Wallace, too, looms up on the Ochil Hills, not far away.
Scots, wha hae wi’ Wallace bled,Scots, wham Bruce has aften led;Welcome to your gory bed,Or to victorie.
Now’s the day, and now’s the hour;See the front o’ battle lower;See approach proud Edward’s power--Chains and slaverie!
Wha will be a traitor knave?Wha can fill a coward’s grave?Wha sae base as be a slave?Let him turn and flee!
Wha for Scotland’s King and lawFreedom’s sword will strongly draw,Freeman stand, or freeman fa’?Let him follow me!
By oppression’s woes and pains!By your sons in servile chains!We will drain our dearest veins,But they shall be free!
Lay the proud usurpers low!Tyrants fall in every foe!Liberty’s in every blow!Let us do, or die!
Words in this poem
- gory a.
- Covered with gore or clotted blood. [From Gore.]
- knave n.
- A boy; especially, a boy servant. Wyclif. [OE., boy, servant, knave, AS. cnafa boy, youth; cf. AS. cnapa boy, youth, D. kna, G. knabe boy, knappe esquire, Icel. knapi, Sw. knape esquire, knäfvel knave.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Robert Bruce’s Address to His Army is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems Every Child Should Know The What-Every-Child-Should-Know-Library, Project Gutenberg ebook #16436; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Mary E. Burt, Robert Bruce’s Address to His Army, in Poems Every Child Should Know (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16436, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poems-every-child/robert-bruce-s-address-to-his-army.html, id L25244.
Form and metre
Robert Bruce’s Address to His Army is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
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.
- 2 AAA- bledA · ledA · bedA · victorie
- 3 A-A- hourA · lower · powerA · slaverie
- 4 AAA- knaveA · graveA · slaveA · flee
- 5 AA-- lawA · drawA · fa · me
- 6 AAA- painsA · chainsA · veinsA · free
- 7 AAA- lowA · foeA · blowA · die
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 |
|---|---|---|
| You can look down on the battle-field of Bannockburn from Stirling | 16 | ······/˘······/˘ |
| Castle, Scotland, near which stands a magnificent statue of Robert, the | 17 | /˘/˘····˘/˘/··/˘· |
| Bruce. How often have I trodden over the old battle-field. The monument | 17 | ··/˘··/˘···/˘··/˘ |
| of William Wallace, too, looms up on the Ochil Hills, not far away. | 17 | ·/˘/˘··········˘/ |
| Scots, wha hae wi’ Wallace bled, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Scots, wham Bruce has aften led; | 7 | ······· |
| Welcome to your gory bed, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Or to victorie. | 5 | ····· |
| Now’s the day, and now’s the hour; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| See the front o’ battle lower; | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| See approach proud Edward’s power-- | 8 | ·˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Chains and slaverie! | 5 | ····· |
| Wha will be a traitor knave? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Wha can fill a coward’s grave? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Wha sae base as be a slave? | 7 | ······· |
| Let him turn and flee! | 5 | ····· |
| Wha for Scotland’s King and law | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Freedom’s sword will strongly draw, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Freeman stand, or freeman fa’? | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Let him follow me! | 5 | ··/˘· |
| By oppression’s woes and pains! | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| By your sons in servile chains! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| We will drain our dearest veins, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| But they shall be free! | 5 | ····· |
| Lay the proud usurpers low! | 7 | ······· |
| Tyrants fall in every foe! | 8 | /˘··/˘˘· |
| Liberty’s in every blow! | 8 | /˘˘·/˘˘· |
| Let us do, or die! | 5 | ····· |
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