Analysis of Love in the Guise of Frindship

Robert Burns 1759 (Alloway) – 1796 (Dumfries)



Talk not of love, it gives me pain,
For love has been my foe;
He bound me in an iron chain,
And plung'd me deep in woe.

But friendship's pure and lasting joys,
My heart was form'd to prove;
There, welcome win and wear the prize,
But never talk of love.

Your friendship much can make me blest,
O why that bliss destroy?
Why urge the only, one request
You know I will deny?

Your thought, if Love must harbour there,
Conceal it in that thought;
Nor cause it in that thought;
Nor cause me from my bosom tear
The very friend I sought.


Scheme ABAB XXXX CXCX DEEDE
Poetic Form
Metre 11111111 111111 11101101 011101 1110101 111111 11010101 110111 11011111 111101 11010101 111101 11111101 011011 111011 11111101 010111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 540
Words 106
Sentences 6
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 5
Lines Amount 17
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 101
Words per stanza (avg) 26
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 07, 2023

32 sec read
84

Robert Burns

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and lyricist. more…

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