Analysis of Willie Wastle
Robert Burns 1759 (Alloway) – 1796 (Dumfries)
Willie Wastle dwalt on Tweed,
The spot they ca'd it Linkumdoddie.
Willie was a wabster guid
Could stown a clue wi onie body.
He had a wife was dour and din,
O, Tinkler Maidgie was her mither!
Sic a wife as Willie had,
I wad na gie a button for her.
She has an e'e (she has but ane),
The cat has twa the very colour,
Five rusty teeth, forbye a stump,
A clapper-toungue wad deave a miller;
A whiskin beard about her mou,
Her nose and chin they threaten ither:
Sic a wife as Willie had,
I wad na gie a button for her.
She's bow-hough'd, she's hem-shin'd,
Ae limpin leg a hand-breed shorter;
She's twisted right, she's twisted left,
To balance fair in ilka quarter;
She has a hump upon her breast,
The twin o that upon her shouther:
Sic a wife as Willie had,
I wad na gie a button for her.
Auld baudrans by the ingle sits,
An wi her loof her face a-washin;
But Willie's wife is nae sae trig,
She dights her frunzie wi a hushion;
Her walie nieves like midden-creels,
Her face wad fyle the Logan Water:
Sic a wife as Willie had,
I wad na gie a button for her.
Scheme | aaaxbcDC xcxcxcDC xcxcxcDC ebxbecDC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101111 011111 101011 11011110 110111001 11001101 1011101 111101010 111111111 01110101 1101101 010111010 0110101 01011101 1011101 111101010 111111 11101110 11011101 110101010 11010101 01110101 1011101 111101010 1110101 11010101 11011111 1101101 01010111 011101010 1011101 111101010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,061 |
Words | 210 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 199 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 52 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 1:05 min read
- 1,252 Views
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"Willie Wastle" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/30608/willie-wastle>.
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