Analysis of A Mother's Lament For The Death Of Her Son.

Robert Burns 1759 (Alloway) – 1796 (Dumfries)



Fate gave the word, the arrow sped,
And pierc'd my darling's heart;
And with him all the joys are fled
Life can to me impart.
By cruel hands the sapling drops,
In dust dishonour'd laid:
So fell the pride of all my hopes,
My age's future shade.

The mother-linnet in the brake
Bewails her ravish'd young;
So I, for my lost darling's sake,
Lament the live day long.
Death, oft I've fear'd thy fatal blow,
Now, fond I bare my breast,
O, do thou kindly lay me low
With him I love, at rest!


Scheme ABABXCXC DXDXEFEF
Poetic Form
Metre 11010101 01111 01110111 111101 11010101 0111 11011111 110101 01010001 1011 1111111 010111 11111101 111111 11110111 111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 472
Words 95
Sentences 4
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 8
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 182
Words per stanza (avg) 47
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on March 25, 2023

30 sec read
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Robert Burns

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and lyricist. more…

All Robert Burns poems | Robert Burns Books

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