The Lass o' Ballochmyle by Robert Burns
The speaker wanders through the green, dew-covered fields and fragrant glens around Ballochmyle on a peaceful evening, delighting in the singing birds and beauty of nature. In a lonely glade, he sees a maiden whose appearance seems to surpass the loveliness of morning, spring, May gardens, and autumn nights. He calls her the bonie lass o’ Ballochmyle and presents her as nature’s finest creation. Imagining that she were a country maid and he a country swain, he declares that he would gladly endure poverty, winter weather, and hard labour for the happiness of living with her. He rejects pride, honours, and the pursuit of gold, preferring a simple cottage beneath the pine, where he could tend sheep or work the soil while sharing daily joy with the lass o’ Ballochmyle.
By Robert Burns · First published 1787 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Love Poetry, Pastoral Poetry · 425 words
First lines
Tune-"Ettrick Banks."
'Twas even-the dewy fields were green, / On every blade the pearls hang; / The zephyr wanton'd round the bean, / And bore its fragrant sweets alang: / In ev'ry glen the mavis sang, / All nature list'ning seem'd the while, / Except where greenwood echoes rang, / Amang the braes o' Ballochmyle.
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The Lass o' Ballochmyle is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Burns, dated 1787 CE.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Robert Burns
- Date: 1787 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Love Poetry, Pastoral Poetry, Scottish Vernacular Poetry, Nature Poetry
- Length: 425 words
- Structure: 1 section, 6 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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- Work identity for The Lass o' Ballochmyle by Robert Burns
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Genres
- Lyric Poetry — The work is a short, song-like poem focused on the speaker's immediate admiration, emotional response, and idealized vision of a woman.
- Love Poetry — Its central subject is the speaker's romantic fascination with the beautiful 'lass o' Ballochmyle' and his wish to share a humble rural life with her.
- Pastoral Poetry — The poem celebrates an idyllic countryside of green fields, birdsong, glades, flocks, farming, and a cottage beneath the pine, contrasting rural contentment with worldly ambition.
- Scottish Vernacular Poetry — Burns employs Scots vocabulary and idiom, including words such as 'alang,' 'amang,' 'bonie,' 'braes,' and 'mavis,' grounding the poem in Scottish literary tradition.
Tags
Scottish pastoral poetry · Scots language · love lyric · romantic admiration · idealized maiden · rural courtship · nature worship · Scottish countryside · Ballochmyle · evening landscape · greenwood glens · springtime imagery