Death And Dr. Hornbook Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: AAABAB CCCACA AADEDE BBBCBC CCCBCB BBBFBF GHIJKJ LLLMLM NONCNC CCCACA AAAPAQ AAANAN AAAAAA LLLRLS AAACAC LLLBLB AAAAAA AAATAT AAAAAA SSSUSA SSSASA SSSSSK LBBLBL VVVBWB NNNCNC AAABAB SSSCSC KKKBKB KKKLKA ALALAL CCCNCN

SOME books are lies frae end to endA
And some great lies were never penn'dA
Ev'n ministers they hae been kenn'dA
In holy raptureB
A rousing whid at times to vendA
And nail't wi' ScriptureB
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But this that I am gaun to tellC
Which lately on a night befellC
Is just as true's the Deil's in hellC
Or Dublin cityA
That e'er he nearer comes oursel'C
'S a muckle pityA
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The clachan yill had made me cantyA
I was na fou but just had plentyA
I stacher'd whiles but yet too tent ayeD
To free the ditchesE
An' hillocks stanes an' bushes kenn'd eyeD
Frae ghaists an' witchesE
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The rising moon began to glowreB
The distant Cumnock hills out owreB
To count her horns wi' a my pow'rB
I set mysel'C
But whether she had three or fourB
I cou'd na tellC
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I was come round about the hillC
An' todlin down on Willie's millC
Setting my staff wi' a' my skillC
To keep me sickerB
Tho' leeward whiles against my willC
I took a bickerB
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I there wi' Something did forgatherB
That pat me in an eerie switherB
An' awfu' scythe out owre ae shoutherB
Clear dangling hangF
A three tae'd leister on the itherB
Lay large an' langF
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Its stature seem'd lang Scotch ells twaG
The queerest shape that e'er I sawH
For fient a wame it had avaI
And then its shanksJ
They were as thin as sharp an' sma'K
As cheeks o' branksJ
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Guid een quo' I Friend hae ye been mawinL
When ither folk are busy sawinL
I seem'd to make a kind o' stan'L
But naething spakM
At length says I Friend whare ye gaunL
Will ye go backM
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It spak right howe My name is DeathN
But be na fley'd Quoth I Guid faithO
Ye're maybe come to stap my breathN
But tent me billieC
I red ye weel tak care o' skaithN
See there's a gullyC
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Gudeman quo' he put up your whittleC
I'm no designed to try its mettleC
But if I did I wad be kittleC
To be mislear'dA
I wad na mind it no that spittleC
Out owre my beardA
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Weel weel says I a bargain be'tA
Come gie's your hand an' sae we're gree'tA
We'll ease our shanks an tak a seatA
Come gie's your newsP
This while ye hae been mony a gateA
At mony a houseQ
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Ay ay quo' he an' shook his headA
It's e'en a lang lang time indeedA
Sin' I began to nick the threadA
An' choke the breathN
Folk maun do something for their breadA
An' sae maun DeathN
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Sax thousand years are near hand fledA
Sin' I was to the butching bredA
An' mony a scheme in vain's been laidA
To stap or scar meA
Till ane Hornbook's ta'en up the tradeA
And faith he'll waur meA
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Ye ken Hornbook i' the clachanL
Deil mak his king's hood in spleuchanL
He's grown sae weel acquaint wi' BuchanL
And ither chapsR
The weans haud out their fingers laughinL
An' pouk my hipsS
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See here's a scythe an' there's dartA
They hae pierc'd mony a gallant heartA
But Doctor Hornbook wi' his artA
An' cursed skillC
Has made them baith no worth a f tA
D n'd haet they'll killC
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'Twas but yestreen nae farther ganeL
I threw a noble throw at aneL
Wi' less I'm sure I've hundreds slainL
But deil ma careB
It just play'd dirl on the baneL
But did nae mairB
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Hornbook was by wi' ready artA
An' had sae fortify'd the partA
That when I looked to my dartA
It was sae bluntA
Fient haet o't wad hae pierc'd the heartA
Of a kail runtA
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I drew my scythe in sic a furyA
I near hand cowpit wi' my hurryA
But yet the bauld ApothecaryA
Withstood the shockT
I might as weel hae tried a quarryA
O' hard whin rockT
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Ev'n them he canna get attendedA
Altho' their face he ne'er had kend itA
Just in a kail blade an' sent itA
As soon's he smells 'tA
Baith their disease and what will mend itA
At once he tells 'tA
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And then a' doctor's saws an' whittlesS
Of a' dimensions shapes an' mettlesS
A' kind o' boxes mugs an' bottlesS
He's sure to haeU
Their Latin names as fast he rattlesS
As A B CA
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Calces o' fossils earths and treesS
True sal marinum o' the seasS
The farina of beans an' peaseS
He has't in plentyA
Aqua fontis what you pleaseS
He can content yeA
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Forbye some new uncommon weaponsS
Urinus spiritus of caponsS
Or mite horn shavings filings scrapingsS
Distill'd per seS
Sal alkali o' midge tail clippingsS
And mony maeK
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Waes me for Johnie Ged's Hole nowL
Quoth I if that thae news be trueB
His braw calf ward whare gowans grewB
Sae white and bonieL
Nae doubt they'll rive it wi' the plewB
They'll ruin JohnieL
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The creature grain'd an eldritch laughV
And says Ye needna yoke the pleughV
Kirkyards will soon be till'd eneughV
Tak ye nae fearB
They'll be trench'd wi' mony a sheughW
In twa three yearB
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Whare I kill'd ane a fair strae deathN
By loss o' blood or want of breathN
This night I'm free to tak my aithN
That Hornbook's skillC
Has clad a score i' their last claithN
By drap an' pillC
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An honest wabster to his tradeA
Whase wife's twa nieves were scarce weel bredA
Gat tippence worth to mend her headA
When it was sairB
The wife slade cannie to her bedA
But ne'er spak mairB
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A country laird had ta'en the battsS
Or some curmurring in his gutsS
His only son for Hornbook setsS
An' pays him wellC
The lad for twa guid gimmer petsS
Was laird himsel'C
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A bonie lass ye kend her nameK
Some ill brewn drink had hov'd her wameK
She trusts hersel' to hide the shameK
In Hornbook's careB
Horn sent her aff to her lang hameK
To hide it thereB
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That's just a swatch o' Hornbook's wayK
Thus goes he on from day to dayK
Thus does he poison kill an' slayK
An's weel paid for'tL
Yet stops me o' my lawfu' preyK
Wi' his d n'd dirtA
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But hark I'll tell you of a plotA
Tho' dinna ye be speakin o'tL
I'll nail the self conceited sotA
As dead's a herrinL
Neist time we meet I'll wad a groatA
He gets his fairinL
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But just as he began to tellC
The auld kirk hammer strak the bellC
Some wee short hour ayont the twal'C
Which rais'd us baithN
I took the way that pleas'd mysel'C
And sae did DeathN

Robert Burns



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