Analysis of Fareweel To A'Our Scottish Fame

Robert Burns 1759 (Alloway) – 1796 (Dumfries)



Fareweel to a' our Scottish fame,
Fareweel our ancient glory;
Fareweel ev'n to the Scottish name,
Sae famed in martial story!
Now Sark rins over Solway sands,
And Tweed rins to the ocean,
To mark where England's province stands—
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!

What force or guile could not subdue
Thro' many warlike ages,
Is wrought now by a coward few,
For hireling traitor's wages.
The English steel we could disdain,
Secure in valour's station;
But English gold has been our bane—
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!

O, would or I had seen the day
That treason thus could sell us,
My auld grey head had lien in clay
Wi' Bruce and loyal Wallace!
But pith and power, till my last hour,
I'll mak this declaration:
We're bought and sold for English gold—
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!


Scheme ababcdcD efefgdgD hihixdxD
Poetic Form
Metre 11010101 1101010 11110101 1101010 1111011 0111010 11110101 1010110010 11111101 110110 11110101 11110 01011101 010110 110111101 1010110010 11111101 1101111 11111101 1101010 1101011110 111010 11011101 1010110010
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 791
Words 150
Sentences 7
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 206
Words per stanza (avg) 49
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 12, 2023

46 sec read
216

Robert Burns

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and lyricist. more…

All Robert Burns poems | Robert Burns Books

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