Analysis of Tarbolton Lasses, The

Robert Burns 1759 (Alloway) – 1796 (Dumfries)



If ye gae up to yon hill-tap,
Ye'll there see bonie Peggy;
She kens her father is a laird,
And she forsooth's a leddy.

There Sophy tight, a lassie bright,
Besides a handsome fortune:
Wha canna win her in a night,
Has little art in courtin'.

Gae down by Faile, and taste the ale,
And tak a look o' Mysie;
She's dour and din, a deil within,
But aiblins she may please ye.

If she be shy, her sister try,
Ye'll maybe fancy Jenny;
If ye'll dispense wi' want o' sense-
She kens hersel she's bonie.

As ye gae up by yon hillside,
Speir in for bonie Bessy;
She'll gie ye a beck, and bid ye light,
And handsomely address ye.

There's few sae bonie, nane sae guid,
In a' King George' dominion;
If ye should doubt the truth o' this-
It's Bessy's ain opinion!


Scheme XABA CDCD XEXA XAED XACA BDED
Poetic Form Quatrain  (83%)
Metre 11111111 111110 11010101 011010 11010101 0101010 1110001 110101 11110101 010111 110010101 111111 11110101 1101010 11011111 11111 1111111 101110 111010111 010011 1111111 0011010 11110111 111010
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 730
Words 147
Sentences 7
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 92
Words per stanza (avg) 24
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

47 sec read
135

Robert Burns

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and lyricist. more…

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