Analysis of Last May a Braw Wooer
Robert Burns 1759 (Alloway) – 1796 (Dumfries)
Last May a braw wooer cam down the lang glen,
And sair wi' his love he did deave me;
I said there was naething I hated like men:
The deuce gae wi 'm to believe me, believe me,
The deuce gae wi 'm to believe me.
He spak o' the darts in my bonie black een,
And vow'd for my love he was diein;
I said he might die when he liked for Jean:
The Lord forgie me for liein, for liein,
The Lord forgie me for liein!
A weel-stocked mailen, himsel for the laird,
And marriage aff-hand, were his proffers:
I never loot on that I ken'd it, or car'd,
But thought I might hae waur offers, waur offers,
But thought I might hae waur offers.
But what wad ye think? in a fortnight or less,
(The deil tak his taste to gae near her!)
He up the lang loan to my black cousin Bess,
Guess ye how, the jad! I could bear her, could bear her
Guess ye how, the jad! I could bear her.
But a' the niest week I fretted wi' care,
I gaed to the tryste o' Dalgarnock,
And wha but my fine fickle lover was there,
I glowr'd as I'd seen a warlock, a warlock.
I glowr'd as I'd seen a warlock.
But owre my left shoulder I gae him a blink,
Lest neibors might say I was saucy;
My wooer he caper'd as he'd been in drink,
And vow'd I was his dear lassie, dear lassie,
And vow'd I was his dear lassie.
I spier'd for my cousin fu' couthy and sweet,
Gin she had recover'd her hearin,
And how her new shoon fit her auld shachl't feet--
But, heavens! how he fell a swearin, a swearin,
But, heavens! how he fell a swearin.
He begg'd, for gudesake, I wad be his wife,
Or else I wad kill him wi' sorrow:
So e'en to preserve the poor body in life,
I think I maun wed him to-morrow, to-morrow,
I think I maun wed him to-morrow.
Scheme | ABABB AAXAA CDCDD DEDEE FGFGG GBGBB HXHAA IJIJJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101111011 011111111 1111111011 011111011011 011111011 1110101111 01111111 1111111111 011011111 0110111 01111101 01011011 11011111111 11111110110 11111110 1111100111 011111110 11011111101 111011110110 111011110 1001111011 1110111 01111101011 111110101 1111101 11111011101 11111110 111111101 01111110110 01111110 1111101101 111010010 0101110111 1101110101 11011101 111111111 111111110 111101011001 111111110110 111111110 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,855 |
Words | 345 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 155 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 43 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 1:48 min read
- 123 Views
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"Last May a Braw Wooer" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/30521/last-may-a-braw-wooer>.
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