Analysis of A Poets's Welcome to His Love-Begotten Daughter
Robert Burns 1759 (Alloway) – 1796 (Dumfries)
Thou's welcome, wean; mishanter fa' me,
If thoughts o' thee, or yet thy mammie,
Shall ever daunton me or awe me,
My sweet wee lady,
Or if I blush when thou shalt ca' me
Tyta or daddie.
Tho' now they ca' me fornicator,
An' tease my name in countra clatter,
The mair they talk, I'm kend the better,
E'en let them clash;
An auld wife's tongue's a feckless matter
To gie ane fash.
Welcome! my bonie, sweet, wee dochter,
Tho' ye come here a wee unsought for,
And tho' your comin' I hae fought for,
Baith kirk and queir;
Yet, by my faith, ye're no unwrought for,
That I shall swear!
Sweet fruit o' monie a merry dint,
My funny toil is no a' tint,
Tho' thou cam to the warl' asklent,
Which fools may scoff at;
In my last plack thy part's be in't
The better ha'f o't.
Tho' I should be the waur bestead,
Thou's be as braw and bienly clad,
And thy young years as nicely bred
Wi' education,
As onie brat o' wedlock's bed,
In a' thy station.
Wee image o' my bonie Betty,
As fatherly I kiss and daut thee,
As dear and near my heart I set thee
Wi' as gude will
As a' the priests had seen me get thee
That's out o' hell.
Lord grant that thou may aye inherit
Thy mither's person, grace, an' merit,
An' thy poor, worthless daddy's spirit,
Without his failins,
'Twill please me mair to see thee heir it,
Than stockit mailens.
For if thou be what I wad hae thee,
And tak the counsel I shall gie thee,
I'll never rue my trouble wi' thee -
The cost nor shame o't,
But be a loving father to thee,
And brag the name o't.
Scheme | AAAAAB CCCDCD CCCCCC BBBBAA BBBEBE AAAXAX BBBFBF AAAAAA |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101111 11111111 11011111 11110 111111111 111 111111 11110110 011111010 11111 111101010 1111 1011111 11110111 01111111 1101 111111111 1111 11110101 11011101 1111011 11111 011111101 0101111 1111011 1111011 01111101 1010 111111 00110 11011110 110011011 110111111 1111 100111111 1111 111111010 11101110 111101010 0111 111111111 111 111111111 010101111 110111011 011111 110101011 010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,512 |
Words | 299 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 138 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 37 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:35 min read
- 190 Views
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