Analysis of Green Grow The Rashes

Robert Burns 1759 (Alloway) – 1796 (Dumfries)



Green grow the rashes, O!
Green grow the rashes, O!
The sweetest hours that e'er I spend,
Are spent amang the lasses, O!

There's nought but care on every han'
In every hour that passes, O;
What signifies the life o' man,
An 'twere na for the lasses, O?

The warl'ly race may riches chase,
An' riches still may fly them, O;
An' though at last they catch them fast,
Their hearts can ne'er enjoy them, O.

But gi'e me a canny hour at e'en,
My arms about my dearie, O,
An' warl'ly cares an' warl'ly men
May a' gae tapsalteerie, O!

For you sae douce, ye sneer at this,
Ye're nought but senseless asses, O;
The wisest man the warl' e'er saw,
He dearly loved the lasses, O.

Auld Nature swears the lovely dears
Her noblest work she classes, O;
Her 'prentice han' she tried on man,
An' then she made the lasses, O.


Scheme AAxa xaba caxa dada xaxa caba
Poetic Form Quatrain  (83%)
Metre 110101 110101 0101011011 111011 111111001 0100101101 1100111 1111011 0111101 11011111 11111111 11110111 11101010111 1101111 111111 10111 11111111 111110101 010101101 1101011 11010101 01011101 01011111 1111011
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 788
Words 157
Sentences 9
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 99
Words per stanza (avg) 26
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 02, 2023

50 sec read
1,171

Robert Burns

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and lyricist. more…

All Robert Burns poems | Robert Burns Books

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