Analysis of Auld Lang Syne

Robert Burns 1759 (Alloway) – 1796 (Dumfries)



Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!

Chorus - For auld land syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

And surely ye'll be your pint stowp!
And surely I'll be mine!
And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou'd the gowans fine;
But we've wander'd mony a weary fit
Sin' auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl'd in the burn,
Frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us briad hae roar'd
Sin' auld lang syne.

And there's a hand, my trusty fere!
And gie's a hand o' thine!
And we'll tak' a right gude-willie waught,
For auld lang syne.


Scheme AxAb cBdB xbdB xbxB bbxB cbaB
Poetic Form Quatrain  (67%)
Metre 11010101 010111 11010101 0111 10111111 1111 11011101 1111 01011111 010111 011011101 1111 11110101 010101 1110100101 1111 1111001 110111 11011111 1111 01011101 010111 011011101 1111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 765
Words 142
Sentences 16
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 22
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 88
Words per stanza (avg) 23
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 25, 2023

46 sec read
568

Robert Burns

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and lyricist. more…

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