Epistle To Davie, A Brother Poet Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABACCADEDEFGHG IHJKLLLMLMBELE BBFLLNOAPAACBQ RRASTALMLMBBLB EELRMLLLLLUEVE VVAWWALFLFNAEA FFLCCLXAXAYMRR ZZLVVLLBLBLCLC QQMLLMQLQLEIHR MRAZZA2LALAZBB2B AABBBBC2LC2LBLBLWHILE winds frae aff Ben Lomond blaw | A |
An' bar the doors wi' driving snaw | B |
An' hing us owre the ingle | A |
I set me down to pass the time | C |
An' spin a verse or twa o' rhyme | C |
In hamely westlin jingle | A |
While frosty winds blaw in the drift | D |
Ben to the chimla lug | E |
I grudge a wee the great folk's gift | D |
That live sae bien an' snug | E |
I tent less and want less | F |
Their roomy fire side | G |
But hanker and canker | H |
To see their cursed pride | G |
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It's hardly in a body's pow'r | I |
To keep at times frae being sour | H |
To see how things are shar'd | J |
How best o' chiels are whiles in want | K |
While coofs on countless thousands rant | L |
And ken na how to wair't | L |
But Davie lad ne'er fash your head | L |
Tho' we hae little gear | M |
We're fit to win our daily bread | L |
As lang's we're hale and fier | M |
Mair spier na nor fear na | B |
Auld age ne'er mind a feg | E |
The last o't the warst o't | L |
Is only but to beg | E |
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To lie in kilns and barns at e'en | B |
When banes are craz'd and bluid is thin | B |
Is doubtless great distress | F |
Yet then content could make us blest | L |
Ev'n then sometimes we'd snatch a taste | L |
Of truest happiness | N |
The honest heart that's free frae a' | O |
Intended fraud or guile | A |
However Fortune kick the ba' | P |
Has aye some cause to smile | A |
An' mind still you'll find still | A |
A comfort this nae sma' | C |
Nae mair then we'll care then | B |
Nae farther can we fa' | Q |
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What tho' like commoners of air | R |
We wander out we know not where | R |
But either house or hal' | A |
Yet nature's charms the hills and woods | S |
The sweeping vales and foaming floods | T |
Are free alike to all | A |
In days when daisies deck the ground | L |
And blackbirds whistle clear | M |
With honest joy our hearts will bound | L |
To see the coming year | M |
On braes when we please then | B |
We'll sit an' sowth a tune | B |
Syne rhyme till't we'll time till't | L |
An' sing't when we hae done | B |
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It's no in titles nor in rank | E |
It's no in wealth like Lon'on bank | E |
To purchase peace and rest | L |
It's no in makin' muckle mair | R |
It's no in books it's no in lear | M |
To make us truly blest | L |
If happiness hae not her seat | L |
An' centre in the breast | L |
We may be wise or rich or great | L |
But never can be blest | L |
Nae treasures nor pleasures | U |
Could make us happy lang | E |
The heart aye's the part aye | V |
That makes us right or wrang | E |
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Think ye that sic as you and I | V |
Wha drudge an' drive thro' wet and dry | V |
Wi' never ceasing toil | A |
Think ye are we less blest than they | W |
Wha scarcely tent us in their way | W |
As hardly worth their while | A |
Alas how aft in haughty mood | L |
God's creatures they oppress | F |
Or else neglecting a' that's guid | L |
They riot in excess | F |
Baith careless and fearless | N |
Of either heaven or hell | A |
Esteeming and deeming | E |
It's a' an idle tale | A |
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Then let us cheerfu' acquiesce | F |
Nor make our scanty pleasures less | F |
By pining at our state | L |
And even should misfortunes come | C |
I here wha sit hae met wi' some | C |
An's thankfu' for them yet | L |
They gie the wit of age to youth | X |
They let us ken oursel' | A |
They make us see the naked truth | X |
The real guid and ill | A |
Tho' losses an' crosses | Y |
Be lessons right severe | M |
There's wit there ye'll get there | R |
Ye'll find nae other where | R |
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But tent me Davie ace o' hearts | Z |
To say aught less wad wrang the cartes | Z |
And flatt'ry I detest | L |
This life has joys for you and I | V |
An' joys that riches ne'er could buy | V |
An' joys the very best | L |
There's a' the pleasures o' the heart | L |
The lover an' the frien' | B |
Ye hae your Meg your dearest part | L |
And I my darling Jean | B |
It warms me it charms me | L |
To mention but her name | C |
It heats me it beets me | L |
An' sets me a' on flame | C |
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O all ye Pow'rs who rule above | Q |
O Thou whose very self art love | Q |
Thou know'st my words sincere | M |
The life blood streaming thro' my heart | L |
Or my more dear immortal part | L |
Is not more fondly dear | M |
When heart corroding care and grief | Q |
Deprive my soul of rest | L |
Her dear idea brings relief | Q |
And solace to my breast | L |
Thou Being All seeing | E |
O hear my fervent pray'r | I |
Still take her and make her | H |
Thy most peculiar care | R |
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All hail ye tender feelings dear | M |
The smile of love the friendly tear | R |
The sympathetic glow | A |
Long since this world's thorny ways | Z |
Had number'd out my weary days | Z |
Had it not been for you | A2 |
Fate still has blest me with a friend | L |
In ev'ry care and ill | A |
And oft a more endearing band | L |
A tie more tender still | A |
It lightens it brightens | Z |
The tenebrific scene | B |
To meet with and greet with | B2 |
My Davie or my Jean | B |
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O how that name inspires my style | A |
The words come skelpin rank an' file | A |
Amaist before I ken | B |
The ready measure rins as fine | B |
As Phoebus an' the famous Nine | B |
Were glowrin owre my pen | B |
My spaviet Pegasus will limp | C2 |
Till ance he's fairly het | L |
And then he'll hilch and stilt an' jimp | C2 |
And rin an unco fit | L |
But least then the beast then | B |
Should rue this hasty ride | L |
I'll light now and dight now | B |
His sweaty wizen'd hide | L |
Robert Burns
(1)
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