The Banks o' Doon (First Version)
The speaker finds the banks of Doon beautiful, bright, and full of flourishing flowers, yet feels overwhelmed by sorrow. A singing bird reminds her of the happier time when her false lover seemed true, and the bird singing beside its mate recalls how she once sat and sang without knowing the fate that awaited her. She remembers wandering often beside bonie Doon, watching the woodbine twine while every bird sang of love. She too sang of her own love and, with a light heart, picked a rose from its thorny tree. Her false lover took the rose and left her with the thorn: she flourished like a rose in the morning, but was plucked by noon.
By Robert Burns · First published 1792 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Love Poetry, Pastoral Poetry · 256 words
First lines
Sweet are the banks-the banks o' Doon, / The spreading flowers are fair, / And everything is blythe and glad, / But I am fu' o' care. / Thou'll break my heart, thou bonie bird, / That sings upon the bough; / Thou minds me o' the happy days / When my fause Luve was true: / Thou'll break my heart, thou bonie bird, / That sings beside thy mate; / For sae I sat, and sae I sang, / And wist na o' my fate.
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Genres
- Lyric Poetry — A brief, songlike first-person poem expressing an intense personal emotional state through musical repetition, rhyme, and refrain.
- Love Poetry — The poem centers on the speaker's remembrance of a formerly happy romance and grief over a faithless lover.
- Pastoral Poetry — Its emotional drama is set amid the idyllic natural scenery of the River Doon, with flowers, birds, woodbine, and summer landscape reflecting the speaker's feelings.
- Scottish Poetry — Burns uses Scots diction and idiom, including terms such as 'bonie,' 'Luve,' 'ilka,' and 'fu' o' care,' while locating the poem at the Doon in Ayrshire.
Tags
Scottish lyric poetry · Scots language · love betrayal · false lover · heartbreak · female speaker · unrequited love · lost happiness · sorrow amid beauty · pastoral landscape · banks of the River Doon · rural Scotland
What this Textopian page supports
The Banks o' Doon (First Version) is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Burns, dated 1792 CE.
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: 1792 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Love Poetry, Pastoral Poetry, Scottish Poetry, Romantic Poetry
- Length: 256 words
- Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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- Work identity for The Banks o' Doon (First Version) by Robert Burns
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