Analysis of Winter: A Dirge

Robert Burns 1759 (Alloway) – 1796 (Dumfries)



The wintry west extends his blast,
And hail and rain does blaw;
Or the stormy north sends driving forth
The blinding sleet and snaw:
While, tumbling brown, the burn comes down,
And roars frae bank to brae;
And bird and beast in covert rest,
And pass the heartless day.

"The sweeping blast, the sky o'ercast,"
The joyless winter day
Let others fear, to me more dear
Than all the pride of May:
The tempest's howl, it soothes my soul,
My griefs it seems to join;
The leafless trees my fancy please,
Their fate resembles mine!

Thou Power Supreme, whose mighty scheme
These woes of mine fulfil,
Here firm I rest; they must be best,
Because they are Thy will!
Then all I want-O do Thou grant
This one request of mine!-
Since to enjoy Thou dost deny,
Assist me to resign.


Scheme ABXCCDED ADXDBCXC XBEBXCCC
Poetic Form
Metre 01010111 010111 101011101 010101 110010111 011111 01010101 010101 0101011 01101 11011111 110111 0111111 111111 01011101 110101 110011101 11111 11111111 011111 11111111 110111 11011101 011101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 749
Words 145
Sentences 6
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 197
Words per stanza (avg) 47
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 14, 2023

43 sec read
199

Robert Burns

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and lyricist. more…

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