Analysis of It was a' for our Rightful King
Robert Burns 1759 (Alloway) – 1796 (Dumfries)
1 It was a' for our rightful king
2 That we left fair Scotland's strand;
3 It was a' for our rightful king
4 We e'er saw Irish land,
5 My dear,
6 We e'er saw Irish land.
7 Now a' is done that men can do,
8 And a' is done in vain!
9 My love, and native land, fareweel!
10 For I maun cross the main,
11 My dear,
12 For I maun cross the main.
13 He turn'd him right and round about,
14 Upon the Irish shore,
15 He gave his bridle-reins a shake,
16 With, Adieu for evermore,
17 My dear!
18 And adieu for evermore!
19 The soldier frae the war returns,
20 And the merchant frae the main.
21 But I hae parted frae my love,
22 Never to meet again,
23 My dear,
24 Never to meet again.
25 When day is gone and night is come,
26 And a' folk bound to sleep,
27 I think on him that's far awa
28 The lee-lang night, and weep,
29 My dear,
30 The lee-lang night, and weep.
Scheme | ABABCB XDXDCD XEXECE XDXFCF XGXGCG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (37%) Tetractys (27%) |
Metre | 110110101 1111101 110110101 1101101 11 1101101 10111111 001101 1101011 111101 11 111101 11110101 010101 11110101 101110 11 001110 01010101 0010101 11110111 101101 11 101101 11110111 001111 1111111 011101 11 011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,014 |
Words | 187 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 12 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 125 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 73 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 25, 2023
- 57 sec read
- 275 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"It was a' for our Rightful King" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/30511/it-was-a%27-for-our-rightful-king>.
Discuss this Robert Burns poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In