Analysis of A Boy's Song

James Hogg 1770 (Ettrick, Scotland) – 1835 (Ettrick, Scotland)



Where the pools are bright and deep,
Where the grey trout lies asleep,
Up the river and over the lea,
That's the way for Billy and me.

Where the blackbird sings the latest,
Where the hawthorn blooms the sweetest,
Where the nestlings chirp and flee,
That's the way for Billy and me.

Where the mowers mow the cleanest,
Where the hay lies thick and greenest,
There to track the homeward bee,
That's the way for Billy and me.

Where the hazel bank is steepest,
Where the shadow falls the deepest,
Where the clustering nuts fall free,
That's the way for Billy and me.

Why the boys should drive away
Little sweet maidens from the play,
Or love to banter and fight so well,
That's the thing I never could tell.

But this I know, I love to play
Through the meadow, among the hay;
Up the water and over the lea,
That's the way for Billy and me.


Scheme aabB ccbB cxbB ccbB ddee ddbB
Poetic Form Quatrain  (83%)
Metre 1011101 1011101 101001001 10111001 10101010 1011010 1010101 10111001 10101010 10111010 1110101 10111001 10101110 1011010 10100111 10111001 1011101 10110101 111100111 10111011 11111111 1010101 101001001 10111001
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 841
Words 160
Sentences 7
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 108
Words per stanza (avg) 26
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 23, 2023

49 sec read
332

James Hogg

James Hogg was a Scottish poet and novelist who wrote in both Scots and English. more…

All James Hogg poems | James Hogg Books

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