Analysis of Mary Morison

Robert Burns 1759 (Alloway) – 1796 (Dumfries)




O Mary, at thy window be!
     It is the wish'd the trysted hour.
Those smiles and glances let me see,
     That makes the miser's treasure poor.
How blythely wad I bide the stoure,
     A weary slave frae sun to sun,
Could I the rich reward secure --
     The lovely Mary Morison!

Yestreen, when to the trembling string
     The dance gaed thro the lighted ha',
To thee my fancy took its wing,
     I sat, but neither heard or saw:
Tho' this was fair, and that was braw,
     And yon the toast of a'the town,
I sigh'd, and said amang them a' --
     "Ye are na Mary Morison!"

O, Mary, canst thou wreck his peace
     Wha for thy sake wad gladly die?
Or canst thou break that heart of his
     Whase only faut is loving thee?
If love for love thou wilt na gie,
     At least be pity to me shown:
A thought ungentle canna be
     The thought o' Mary Morison.


Scheme ABAXBCXC DXDXBXXC XXXAXXAC
Poetic Form
Metre 11011101 11010110 11010111 1101101 1111101 01011111 11010101 01010100 11101001 01110101 11110111 11110111 11110111 01011001 1101110 11110100 11011111 11111101 11111111 11011101 11111111 11110111 01111 01110100
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 842
Words 162
Sentences 9
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 200
Words per stanza (avg) 53
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

49 sec read
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Robert Burns

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and lyricist. more…

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