A Waukrife Minnie by Robert Burns
The speaker meets a bonie lass who says she is running an errand for her minnie and lives in a wee house by the burnside. He visits her up the glen in the evening, and by morning she is much less saucie. A wakeful cock crows before dawn and rouses the old wife, who rises angrily and beats her daughter with a large hazel stick. The speaker bids the lass farewell, admiring her beauty but regretting that she has such a waukrife minnie.
By Robert Burns · First published 1792 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Scottish Vernacular Poetry, Folk Song · 249 words
First lines
Whare are you gaun, my bonie lass, / Whare are you gaun, my hinnie? / She answered me right saucilie, / "An errand for my minnie."
O whare live ye, my bonie lass, / O whare live ye, my hinnie? / "By yon burnside, gin ye maun ken, / In a wee house wi' my minnie."
But I foor up the glen at e'en. / To see my bonie lassie; / And lang before the grey morn cam, / She was na hauf sae saucie.
O weary fa' the waukrife cock, / And the foumart lay his crawin! / He wauken'd the auld wife frae her sleep, / A wee blink or the dawin.
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Genres
- Lyric Poetry — The work is a short, song-like poem expressing a compact romantic encounter through rhythmic stanzas, repetition, and direct speech.
- Scottish Vernacular Poetry — Burns writes in Scots dialect, using regional vocabulary and speech patterns that situate the poem in Scottish popular literary culture.
- Folk Song — Its refrain-like phrasing, simple narrative structure, colloquial voice, and musical stanza form closely resemble a traditional Scottish folk song.
- Comic Poetry — The poem treats the lovers' interrupted meeting with playful humor, especially in the exaggerated complaint about the watchful mother and the crowing cock.
Tags
Scottish vernacular poetry · Scots language · pastoral courtship · clandestine romance · young lovers · rural Scotland · glen setting · burnside cottage · evening visit · pre-dawn awakening · maternal surveillance · strict mother
What this Textopian page supports
A Waukrife Minnie is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Burns, dated 1792 CE.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Robert Burns
- Date: 1792 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Scottish Vernacular Poetry, Folk Song, Comic Poetry, Romance
- Length: 249 words
- Structure: 1 section, 6 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Very Easy (5th Grade or below)
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- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
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