Song—it Was A' For Our Rightfu' King by Robert Burns: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem Song—it Was A' For Our Rightfu' King that begins with:

IT was a' for our rightfu' King
We left fair Scotland's strand;... full text

Elements of the verse: questions and answers

The information we provided is prepared by means of a special computer program. Use the criteria sheet to understand greatest poems or improve your poetry analysis essay.

  • Rhyme scheme: abacb XdXcd XcXcc XdXcd XeXce
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 5,5,5,5,5,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 01111101 111101 01111101 110110111 1101101 11011111 110101 111101100 11110111 111101 11111101 010101 11010101 001110111 1011101 01010101 010101 11110111 10010111 100101 11011101 111101 11111110 01111111 011111
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 152
  • Average number of words per stanza: 31
  • Amount of lines: 29
  • Average number of symbols per line: 25 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 6

  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; and is repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words we, for, the, never are repeated.

If you write a school or university poetry essay, you should Include in your explanation of the poem:

  • summary of Song—it Was A' For Our Rightfu' King;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Robert Burns

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