Analysis of Ye Flowery Banks

Robert Burns 1759 (Alloway) – 1796 (Dumfries)



Ye flowery banks o' bonnie Doon,
How can ye blume sae fair?
How can ye chant, ye little birds,
And I sae fu' o' care?

Thou'll break my heart, thou bonie bird,
That sings upon the bough;
Thou minds me o' the happy days,
When my false love was true.

Thou'll break my heart, thou bonnie bird,
That sings beside thy mate;
For sae I sat, and sae I sang,
And wist na o' my fate.

Aft hae I roved by bonnie Doon
To see the wood-bine twine,
And ilka bird sang o' its luve,
And sae did I o' mine.

Wi' lightsome heart I pulled a rose
Frae aff its thorny tree;
And my false luver stole my rose
But left the thorn wi' me.


Scheme ABXB CXXX CDXD AAXA EFEF
Poetic Form Quatrain  (60%)
Etheree  (35%)
Metre 110011101 111111 11111101 011111 1111111 110101 11110101 111111 11111101 110111 11110111 011111 11111101 110111 01011111 011111 1111101 111101 0111111 110111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 602
Words 128
Sentences 7
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 90
Words per stanza (avg) 25
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

39 sec read
198

Robert Burns

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and lyricist. more…

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