To the Sons of Burns, After Visiting the Grave of Their Father
'Mid crowded obelisks and urnsI sought the untimely grave of Burns;Sons of the Bard, my heart still mournsWith sorrow true;And more would grieve, but that it turnsTrembling to you!
Through twilight shades of good and illYe now are panting up life's hill,And more than common strength and skillMust ye display;If ye would give the better willIts lawful sway.
Hath Nature strung your nerves to bearIntemperance with less harm, beware!But if the Poet's wit ye share,Like him can speedThe social hour--of tenfold careThere will be need;
For honest men delight will takeTo spare your failings for his sake,Will flatter you,--and fool and rakeYour steps pursue;And of your Father's name will makeA snare for you.
Far from their noisy haunts retire,And add your voices to the quireThat sanctify the cottage fireWith service meet;There seek the genius of your Sire,His spirit greet;
Or where,'mid "lonely heights and hows,"He paid to Nature tuneful vows;Or wiped his honourable browsBedewed with toil,While reapers strove, or busy ploughsUpturned the soil;
His judgment with benignant rayShall guide, his fancy cheer, your way;But ne'er to a seductive layLet faith be given;Nor deem that "light which leads astray,Is light from Heaven."
Let no mean hope your souls enslave;Be independent, generous, brave;Your Father such example gave,And such revere;But be admonished by his grave,And think, and fear!
Words in this poem
- beware v. t.
- To avoid; to take care of; to have a care for.
- quire v. i.
- To sing in concert.
- sanctify v. t.
- To make sacred or holy; to set apart to a holy or religious use; to consecrate by appropriate rites; to hallow. [F. sanctifier, L. sanctificare; sanctus holy + - ficare (in comp.) to make. See Saint, and -fy.]
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- tuneful a.
- Harmonious; melodious; musical; as, tuneful notes.
- benignant a.
- Kind; gracious; favorable. [LL. benignans, p. pr. of benignare, from L. benignus. See Benign.]
- 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,]
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
- generous a.
- Of honorable birth or origin; highborn. [F. généreux, fr. L. generous of noble birth, noble, excellent, magnanimous, fr. genus birth, race: cf. It. generoso. See 2d Gender.]
- revere v. t.
- To regard with reverence, or profound respect and affection, mingled with awe or fear; to venerate; to reverence; to honor in estimation. [L. revereri; pref. re- re- + vereri to fear, perh. akin to E. wary: cf. F. révérer.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the Sons of Burns, After Visiting the Grave of Their Father is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 2 (of 8), Project Gutenberg ebook #12145; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Wordsworth, To the Sons of Burns, After Visiting the Grave of Their Father, in The Poetical Works, Volume II (1798–1807), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12145, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wordsworth-vol2/to-the-sons-of-burns-after-visiting-the-grave-of-their-fathe.html, id L17384.
Form and metre
To the Sons of Burns, After Visiting the Grave of Their Father is 48 lines in 8 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AAABAB, complete in 6 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.8 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 38% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 AAABAB urnsA · burnsA · mournsA · trueB · turnsA · youB
- 2 AAABAB illA · hillA · skillA · displayB · willA · swayB
- 3 AAABAB bearA · bewareA · shareA · speedB · careA · needB
- 4 AAABAB takeA · sakeA · rakeA · pursueB · makeA · youB
- 5 AAAB-B retireA · quireA · fireA · meetB · sire · greetB
- 6 AAABAB howsA · vowsA · browsA · toilB · ploughsA · soilB
- 7 AAA-A- rayA · wayA · layA · given · astrayA · heaven
- 8 AAABAB enslaveA · braveA · gaveA · revereB · graveA · fearB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 'Mid crowded obelisks and urns | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I sought the untimely grave of Burns; | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
| Sons of the Bard, my heart still mourns | 8 | ········ |
| With sorrow true; | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And more would grieve, but that it turns | 8 | ········ |
| Trembling to you! | 5 | /˘˘·· |
| Through twilight shades of good and ill | 8 | ·/······ |
| Ye now are panting up life's hill, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And more than common strength and skill | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Must ye display; | 4 | ··˘/ |
| If ye would give the better will | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Its lawful sway. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Hath Nature strung your nerves to bear | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Intemperance with less harm, beware! | 9 | ˘/˘˘···˘/ |
| But if the Poet's wit ye share, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Like him can speed | 4 | ···· |
| The social hour--of tenfold care | 8 | ·/˘/·/·· |
| There will be need; | 4 | ···· |
| For honest men delight will take | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| To spare your failings for his sake, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Will flatter you,--and fool and rake | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Your steps pursue; | 4 | ··˘/ |
| And of your Father's name will make | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A snare for you. | 4 | ···· |
| Far from their noisy haunts retire, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And add your voices to the quire | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That sanctify the cottage fire | 9 | ·/˘˘·/˘/˘ |
| With service meet; | 4 | ·/˘· |
| There seek the genius of your Sire, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| His spirit greet; | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Or where,'mid "lonely heights and hows," | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| He paid to Nature tuneful vows; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Or wiped his honourable brows | 8 | ········ |
| Bedewed with toil, | 4 | ···· |
| While reapers strove, or busy ploughs | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Upturned the soil; | 4 | ˘/·· |
| His judgment with benignant ray | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Shall guide, his fancy cheer, your way; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But ne'er to a seductive lay | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Let faith be given; | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Nor deem that "light which leads astray, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Is light from Heaven." | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Let no mean hope your souls enslave; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Be independent, generous, brave; | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Your Father such example gave, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| And such revere; | 4 | ··˘/ |
| But be admonished by his grave, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And think, and fear! | 4 | ···· |
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