Analysis of The Muckin' O' Geordie's Byre
Robert Burns 1759 (Alloway) – 1796 (Dumfries)
At a relic aul' croft upon the hill,
Roon the neuk frae Sprottie's mill,
Tryin' a' his life tae jine the kill
Lived Geordie MacIntyre.
He had a wife as sweir's himsel'
An' a daughter as black's Auld Nick himsel'.
There wis some fun - haud awa' the smell-
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.
Chorus:
For the graip was tint, the besom was deen,
The barra widna row its leen,
An'siccan a soss it never was seen
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.
For the daughter had to strae and neep
The auld wife started to swipe the greep
When Geordie fell sklite on a rotten neep
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.
Ben the greep cam' Geordie's soo
She stood up ahint the coo
The coo kickit oot an' o whit a stew
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre. (Chorus)
For the aul' wife she was booin' doon -
The soo was kickit on the croon
It shoved her heid in the wifie's goon
Then ben through Geordie's byre.
The daughter cam thro the barn door
An' seein' her mother let oot a roar,
To the midden she ran an' fell ower the boar
At the muckin' of Geordie's byre. (Chorus)
For the boar he lap the midden dyke
An' ower the riggs wi' Geordie's tyke.
They baith ran intil a bumbee's byke
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.
The cocks an' hens began to craw
When Biddy astride the soo they saw
The postie's shelty ran awa'
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre. (Chorus)
O a hunder' years are passed an mair
Whaur Sprottie's wis, the hill is bare;
The croft's awa', sae ye'll see nae mair
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre.
His folks a' deid an' awa' lang syne
In case his memory we should tyne,
Whistle this tune tae keep ye in min'
At the muckin' o' Geordie's byre. (Chorus)
Scheme | aaabaaxB cdddB eeeBfffC dggbhhhc iiiBjjxC kkkBdxxC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1010110101 101111 10111101 110010 1101111 101011111 11111101 101111 10 101110111 0101111 10111011 101111 101011101 011101101 11001110101 101111 101111 111101 011111101 10111110 10111111 0111101 11010011 11111 01011011 110101101 1011111101 10111110 10111011 1101111 1111011 101111 01110111 110010111 01111 10111110 10111111 1110111 01111111 101111 11011111 011100111 101111101 10111110 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,597 |
Words | 318 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 5, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 45 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 203 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 53 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 01, 2023
- 1:42 min read
- 269 Views
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"The Muckin' O' Geordie's Byre" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/30580/the-muckin%27-o%27-geordie%27s-byre>.
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