Analysis of Hunter's Song

Sir Walter Scott 1771 (College Wynd, Edinburgh) – 1832 (Abbotsford, Roxburghshire)



The toils are pitched, and the stakes are set,
Ever sing merrily, merrily;
The bows they bend, and the knives they whet,
Hunters live so cheerily.

It was a stag, a stag of ten,
Bearing its branches sturdily;
He came silently down the glen,
Ever sing hardily, hardily.

It was there he met with a wounded doe,
She was bleeding deathfully;
She warned him of the toils below,
O so faithfully, faithfully!

He had an eye, and he could heed,
Ever sing so warily, warily;
He had a foot, and he could speed--
Hunters watch so narrowly.


Scheme ABAB CBCB DBDB EBEB
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 011100111 101100100 011100111 10111 11010111 101101 11100101 10111 1111110101 11101 11110101 11100100 11110111 1011100100 11010111 1011100
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 534
Words 99
Sentences 5
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 101
Words per stanza (avg) 24
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

29 sec read
186

Sir Walter Scott

Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, poet, playwright, and historian. more…

All Sir Walter Scott poems | Sir Walter Scott Books

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