Analysis of Duncan Gray

Robert Burns 1759 (Alloway) – 1796 (Dumfries)



1     Duncan Gray came here to woo,
2         Ha, ha, the wooin o't!
3     On blythe Yule night when we were fou,
4         Ha, ha, the wooin o't!
5     Maggie coost her head fu high,
6     Look'd asklent and unco skeigh,
7     Gart poor Duncan stand abeigh;
8         Ha, ha, the wooin o't!

9     Duncan fleech'd, and Duncan pray'd,
10       Ha, ha, the wooin o't!
11   Meg was deaf as Ailsa Craig,
12       Ha, ha, the wooin o't!
13   Duncan sigh'd baith out and in,
14   Grat his een baith bleer't and blin',
15   Spak o' lowpin owre a linn;
16       Ha, ha, the wooin o't!

17   Time and chance are but a tide,
18       Ha, ha, the wooin o't!
19   Slighted love is sair to bide,
20       Ha, ha, the wooin o't!
21   'Shall I, like a fool,' quoth he,
22   'For a haughty hizzie die?
23   She may gae to--France for me!'--
24       Ha, ha, the wooin o't!

25   How it comes let doctors tell,
26       Ha, ha, the wooin o't!
27   Meg grew sick as he grew hale,
28       Ha, ha, the wooin o't!
29   Something in her bosom wrings,
30   For relief a sigh she brings;
31   And O! her een, they spak sic things
32       Ha, ha, the wooin o't!

33   Duncan was a lad o' grace,
34       Ha, ha, the wooin o't!
35   Maggie's was a piteous case,
36       Ha, ha, the wooin o't!
37   Duncan could na be her death,
38   Swelling pity smoor'd his wrath;
39   Now they're crouse and cantie baith;
40       Ha, ha, the wooin o't!


Scheme XABABBXA XAXACCCA DADAAXAA XAXAEEEA EAEAFXFA
Poetic Form Etheree  (33%)
Metre 1011111 110111 11111101 110111 1010111 11011 111011 110111 1010101 110111 1111101 110111 1011100 1111101 111101 110111 1011101 110111 1011111 110111 1110111 101011 1111111 110111 1111101 110111 1111111 110111 1000101 1010111 01011111 110111 1010111 110111 11011 110111 1011101 1010111 111011 110111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,383
Words 270
Sentences 19
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 40
Letters per line (avg) 22
Words per line (avg) 11
Letters per stanza (avg) 176
Words per stanza (avg) 85
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 10, 2023

1:27 min read
209

Robert Burns

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and lyricist. more…

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    What is the term for the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.
    A Dithyramb
    B Enjambment
    C Line break
    D A turn