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 Views
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