Analysis of Epitaph on Holy Willie

Robert Burns 1759 (Alloway) – 1796 (Dumfries)



Here Holy Willie's sair worn clay
Taks up its last abode;
His saul has ta'en some other way,
I fear, the left-hand road.

Stop! there he is, as sur's a gun,
Poor, silly body, see him;
Nae wonder he's as black's the grun,
Observe wha's standing wi' him.

Your brunstane devilship, I see,
Has got him there before ye;
But haud your nine-tail cat a wee,
Till ance you've heard my story.

Your pity I will not implore,
For pity ye have nane;
Justice, alas! has gi'en him o'er,
And mercy's day is gane.

But hear me, Sir, deil as ye are,
Look something to your credit;
A coof like him wad stain your name,
If it were kent ye did it.


Scheme ABAB CDCD EEEE XCXC XXXX
Poetic Form Quatrain  (80%)
Etheree  (30%)
Metre 11010111 111101 111111101 110111 11111101 1101011 11011101 0111011 11111 1111011 11111101 1111110 11011101 110111 100111110 01111 11111111 1101110 01111111 1101111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 635
Words 124
Sentences 8
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 92
Words per stanza (avg) 24
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

40 sec read
76

Robert Burns

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and lyricist. more…

All Robert Burns poems | Robert Burns Books

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