Sweet Afton by Robert Burns

The speaker asks the Afton to flow gently and nearby birds to keep quiet while Mary sleeps beside the stream. The speaker describes daily walks within sight of the flocks and Mary's cottage, evenings shared beneath a birch, and Mary gathering flowers in the river.

By Robert Burns · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Pastoral Poetry, Love Poetry · 302 words

First lines

Flow gently, sweet Afton! amang thy green braes, / Flow gently, I'll sing thee a song in thy praise; / My Mary's asleep by thy murmuring stream, / Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream.

Thou stockdove whose echo resounds thro' the glen, / Ye wild whistling blackbirds in yon thorny den, / Thou green-crested lapwing thy screaming forbear, / I charge you, disturb not my slumbering Fair.

• Open reader

Genres

• Lyric Poetry — A first-person speaker addresses the river in rhyming stanzas, opening and closing with a repeated request to protect Mary's sleep.
• Pastoral Poetry — The speaker's daily wandering places flocks, Mary's cottage, winding streams and wooded banks within a rural landscape.
• Love Poetry — The speaker's affection for Mary appears in concern for her sleep and descriptions of their shared evenings beside the river.

Tags

rivers · birds · sleep · rural landscape · love · flowers

What this Textopian page supports

Sweet Afton is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Burns, dated Date unknown.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

• Work type: Poem
• Author: Robert Burns
• Date: Date unknown
• Language: English
• Genres: Lyric Poetry, Pastoral Poetry, Love Poetry
• Length: 302 words
• Structure: 1 section, 6 paragraphs
• Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)

Good citation fit

• Work identity for Sweet Afton by Robert Burns
• Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
• Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
• Readability and classroom-planning context
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More by Robert Burns

• Handsome Nell (1808)
• O Tibbie, I Hae Seen the Day (1786)
• I Dream'D I Lay (1792)
• In the Character of a Ruined Farmer (1786)
• Tragic Fragment (1786)
• The Tarbolton Lasses (1808)
• Ah, Woe is me, my Mother Dear (1808)
• Montgomerie's Peggy (1790)
• All works by Robert Burns