Analysis of Afton Water
Robert Burns 1759 (Alloway) – 1796 (Dumfries)
1 Flow gently, sweet Afton, among thy green braes,
2 Flow gently, I'll sing thee a song in thy praise;
3 My Mary's asleep by thy murmuring stream,
4 Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream.
5 Thou stock-dove, whose echo resounds thro' the glen,
6 Ye wild whistling blackbirds in yon thorny den,
7 Thou green-crested lapwing, thy screaming forbear,
8 I charge you disturb not my slumbering fair.
9 How lofty, sweet Afton, thy neighbouring hills,
10 Far mark'd with the courses of clear winding rills;
11 There daily I wander as noon rises high,
12 My flocks and my Mary's sweet cot in my eye.
13 How pleasant thy banks and green valleys below,
14 Where wild in the woodlands the primroses blow;
15 There oft, as mild Ev'ning sweeps over the lea,
16 The sweet-scented birk shades my Mary and me.
17 Thy crystal stream, Afton, how lovely it glides,
18 And winds by the cot where my Mary resides,
19 How wanton thy waters her snowy feet lave,
20 As gathering sweet flowrets she stems thy clear wave.
21 Flow gently, sweet Afton, among thy green braes,
22 Flow gently, sweet river, the theme of my lays;
23 My Mary's asleep by thy murmuring stream,
24 Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream
Scheme | AABB CCDD AAEE FFGG AAHH AABB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 1101101111 11011101011 11001111001 1101101101 1111101101 11101001101 111011101 11101111001 11011111 11101011101 11011011101 11011011011 11011011001 110010101 11111111001 01101111001 1101111011 01101111001 11011001011 11001111111 1101101111 11011001111 11001111001 1101101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,254 |
Words | 222 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 39 |
Words per line (avg) | 12 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 155 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 48 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:08 min read
- 145 Views
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"Afton Water" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/30464/afton-water>.
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