Ah, Woe Is Me, My Mother Dear

Robert Burns 1759 (Alloway) – 1796 (Dumfries)



Ah, woe is me, my mother dear!
A man of strife ye've born me:
For sair contention I maun bear;
They hate, revile, and scorn me.

I ne'er could lend on bill or band,
That five per cent. might blest me;
And borrowing, on the tither hand,
The deil a ane wad trust me.

Yet I, a coin-denied wight,
By Fortune quite discarded;
Ye see how I am, day and night,
By lad and lass blackguarded!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 21, 2023

24 sec read
471

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAXA BABA CXCB
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 378
Words 78
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4

Robert Burns

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and lyricist. more…

All Robert Burns poems | Robert Burns Books

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