Analysis of Address To A Haggis
Robert Burns 1759 (Alloway) – 1796 (Dumfries)
Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang's my arm.
The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o' need,
While thro' your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.
His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An' cut ye up wi' ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright
Like onie ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!
Then, horn for horn, they strech an' strive:
Deil tak the hindmost! on they drive,
Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve,
Are bent like drums;
Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
'Bethankit!' hums.
Is there that owre his French ragout
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi' perfect sconner,
Looks down wi' sneering, scornfu' view
On sic a dinner?
Poor devil! see him owre his trash,
As feckless as a wither'd rash,
His spindle shank, a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit;
Thro' bluidy flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!
But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread.
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He'll make it whissle;
An' legs, an' arms, an' heads will sned,
Like taps o' thrissle.
Ye Pow'rs wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o 'fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer,
Gie her a Haggis!
Scheme | AAABAB CCCDCD DEEFEF GGGHGH DXIJIJ KKKLKL MMXCDC JJJAJA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Burns stanza (71%) |
Metre | 1111011 1101011 1101111 1111 11110101 1111 01010111 1110101 11111101 0111 11110101 1101 1111011 11111101 1110101 111 011101001 111 11111111 1101111 1011111 1111 1111111 11 1111111 1111101 111101 1011 1111011 11010 11011111 11010101 11010111 1101 1111111 1101 1101011 01001111 1011101 1111 11111111 1111 11111111 01111111 1101111 1101 1111011 1001 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,633 |
Words | 270 |
Sentences | 14 |
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) | 139 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 33 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 1:22 min read
- 423 Views
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"Address To A Haggis" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/30457/address-to-a-haggis>.
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