The Whistle: A Ballad Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABB CCDE CCCC EEFF GGHI CCJK CCLL MMEE NNOO EEPP EEQR CSTT EEUU VVWX YYZZ NNVV A2A2B2B2 C2C2EE| the pride of the North | A |
| Was brought to the court of our good Scottish King | B |
| And long with this Whistle all Scotland shall ring | B |
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| Old Loda still rueing the arm of Fingal | C |
| The god of the bottle sends down from his hall | C |
| The Whistle's your challenge to Scotland get o'er | D |
| And drink them to hell Sir or ne'er see me more | E |
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| Old poets have sung and old chronicles tell | C |
| What champions ventur'd what champions fell | C |
| The son of great Loda was conqueror still | C |
| And blew on the Whistle their requiem shrill | C |
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| Till Robert the lord of the Cairn and the Scaur | E |
| Unmatch'd at the bottle unconquer'd in war | E |
| He drank his poor god ship as deep as the sea | F |
| No tide of the Baltic e'er drunker than he | F |
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| Thus Robert victorious the trophy has gain'd | G |
| Which now in his house has for ages remain'd | G |
| Till three noble chieftains and all of his blood | H |
| The jovial contest again have renew'd | I |
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| Three joyous good fellows with hearts clear of flaw | C |
| Craigdarroch so famous for with worth and law | C |
| And trusty Glenriddel so skill'd in old coins | J |
| And gallant Sir Robert deep read in old wines | K |
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| Craigdarroch began with a tongue smooth as oil | C |
| Desiring Downrightly to yield up the spoil | C |
| Or else he would muster the heads of the clan | L |
| And once more in claret try which was the man | L |
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| By the gods of the ancients Downrightly replies | M |
| Before I surrender so glorious a prize | M |
| I'll conjure the ghost of the great Rorie More | E |
| And bumper his horn with him twenty times o'er | E |
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| Sir Robert a soldier no speech would pretend | N |
| But he ne'er turn'd his back on his foe or his friend | N |
| Said Toss down the Whistle the prize of the field | O |
| And knee deep in claret he'd die ere he'd yield | O |
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| To the board of Glenriddel our heroes repair | E |
| So noted for drowning of sorrow and care | E |
| But for wine and for welcome not more known to fame | P |
| Than the sense wit and taste of a sweet lovely dame | P |
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| A bard was selected to witness the fray | E |
| And tell future ages the feats of the day | E |
| A Bard who detested all sadness and spleen | Q |
| And wish'd that Parnassus a vineyard had been | R |
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| The dinner being over the claret they ply | C |
| And ev'ry new cork is a new spring of joy | S |
| In the bands of old friendship and kindred so set | T |
| And the bands grew the tighter the more they were wet | T |
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| Gay Pleasure ran riot as bumpers ran o'er | E |
| Bright Phoebus ne'er witness'd so joyous a core | E |
| And vow'd that to leave them he was quite forlorn | U |
| Till Cynthia hinted he'd see them next morn | U |
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| Six bottles a piece had well wore out the night | V |
| When gallant Sir Robert to finish the fight | V |
| Turn'd o'er in one bumper a bottle of red | W |
| And swore 'twas the way that their ancestor did | X |
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| Then worthy Glenriddel so cautious and sage | Y |
| No longer the warfare ungodly would wage | Y |
| A high Ruling Elder to wallow in wine | Z |
| He left the foul business to folks less divine | Z |
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| The gallant Sir Robert fought hard to the end | N |
| But who can with Fate and quart bumpers contend | N |
| Though Fate said a hero should perish in light | V |
| So uprose bright Phoebus and down fell the knight | V |
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| Next uprose our Bard like a prophet in drink | A2 |
| Craigdarroch thou'lt soar when creation shall sink | A2 |
| But if thou would flourish immortal in rhyme | B2 |
| Come one bottle more and have at the sublime | B2 |
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| Thy line that have struggled for freedom with Bruce | C2 |
| Shall heroes and patriots ever produce | C2 |
| So thine be the laurel and mine be the bay | E |
| The field thou hast won by yon bright god of day | E |
Robert Burns
(1)
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