Analysis of Banks O' Doon, The

Robert Burns 1759 (Alloway) – 1796 (Dumfries)



Ye banks and braes o' bonie Doon,
How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair?
How can ye chant, ye little birds,
And I sae weary fu' o' care!
Thou'll break my heart, thou warbling bird,
That wantons thro' the flowering thorn:
Thou minds me o' departed joys,
Departed never to return.

Aft I rov'd by Bonie Doon,
To see the rose and woodbine twine:
And ilka bird sang o' its luve,
And fondly sae did I o' mine.
Wi' lightsome heart I pu'd a rose,
Fu' sweet upon its thorny tree!
Any my fause luver staw my rose,
But ah! he left the thorn wi' me.


Scheme ABXBXAXA AAXACDCD
Poetic Form
Metre 1101111 11111101 11111101 01110111 111111001 11101001 11110101 01010101 111111 1101011 01011111 01011111 1111101 11011101 10111111 11110111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 544
Words 109
Sentences 8
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 8
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 199
Words per stanza (avg) 54
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

33 sec read
174

Robert Burns

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and lyricist. more…

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