Written In Friars-carse Hermitage, On The Banks Of Nith. June. 1788. (first Copy.) Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCCDEFFGGHH IIJJKKGGLMNNOOPPQQRR SS| Thou whom chance may hither lead | A |
| Be thou clad in russet weed | B |
| Be thou deck'd in silken stole | C |
| Grave these maxims on thy soul | C |
| Life is but a day at most | D |
| Sprung from night in darkness lost | E |
| Day how rapid in its flight | F |
| Day how few must see the night | F |
| Hope not sunshine every hour | G |
| Fear not clouds will always lower | G |
| Happiness is but a name | H |
| Make content and ease thy aim | H |
| - | |
| Ambition is a meteor gleam | I |
| Fame a restless idle dream | I |
| Pleasures insects on the wing | J |
| Round Peace the tenderest flower of Spring | J |
| Those that sip the dew alone | K |
| Make the butterflies thy own | K |
| Those that would the bloom devour | G |
| Crush the locusts save the flower | G |
| For the future be prepar'd | L |
| Guard wherever thou canst guard | M |
| But thy utmost duly done | N |
| Welcome what thou canst not shun | N |
| Follies past give thou to air | O |
| Make their consequence thy care | O |
| Keep the name of man in mind | P |
| And dishonour not thy kind | P |
| Reverence with lowly heart | Q |
| Him whose wondrous work thou art | Q |
| Keep His goodness still in view | R |
| Thy trust and thy example too | R |
| - | |
| Stranger go Heaven be thy guide | S |
| Quod the Beadsman on Nithside | S |
Robert Burns
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
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