Analysis of The Bonnie House O' Airly
Andrew Lang 1844 (Selkirk, Scottish Borders) – 1912 (Banchory)
It fell on a day, and a bonnie summer day,
When the corn grew green and yellow,
That there fell out a great dispute
Between Argyle and Airly.
The Duke o' Montrose has written to Argyle
To come in the morning early,
An' lead in his men, by the back O' Dunkeld,
To plunder the bonnie house o' Airly.
The lady look'd o'er her window sae hie,
And O but she looked weary!
And there she espied the great Argyle
Come to plunder the bonnie house o' Airly.
'Come down, come down, Lady Margaret,' he says,
'Come down and kiss me fairly,
Or before the morning clear daylight,
I'll no leave a standing stane in Airly.'
'I wadna kiss thee, great Argyle,
I wadna kiss thee fairly,
I wadna kiss thee, great Argyle,
Gin you shouldna leave a standing stane Airly.'
He has ta'en her by the middle sae sma',
Says, 'Lady, where is your drury?'
'It's up and down by the bonnie burn side,
Amang the planting of Airly.'
They sought it up, they sought it down,
They sought it late and early,
And found it in the bonnie balm-tree,
That shines on the bowling-green o' Airly,
He has ta'en her by the left shoulder,
And O but she grat sairly,
And led her down to yon green bank,
Till he plundered the bonnie house o' Airly.
'O it's I hae seven braw sons,' she says,
'And the youngest ne'er saw his daddie,
And altho' I had as mony mae,
I wad gie them a' to Charlie.
'But gin my good lord had been at hame,
As this night he is wi' Charlie,
There durst na a Campbell in a' the west
Hae plundered the bonnie house o' Airly.
Scheme | abxb cdab xdcb edxb CdCb fdxb xddb xbxb eaad fdxb |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (50%) Etheree (28%) |
Metre | 111010010101 10111010 11110101 01101 011111011 11001010 1101110111 110010111 01011001011 0111110 0111011 1110010111 11111010011 1101110 10101011 111010101 111111 111110 111111 111101011 11110101011 11011110 1101101011 101011 11111111 1111010 011001011 111010111 1111010110 011111 01011111 1110010111 1111101111 00101111 01111101 11110110 111111111 11111110 1110100001 110010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,461 |
Words | 298 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 112 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 29 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:30 min read
- 31 Views
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"The Bonnie House O' Airly" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2825/the-bonnie-house-o%27-airly>.
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