The Ploughman's Life by Robert Burns
A wandering speaker hears a young ploughman singing in spring that no life equals the ploughman’s during sweet May. He celebrates the lav’rock rising from her nest with dew upon her breast, singing alongside the cheerful ploughman before returning to her nest at night.
By Robert Burns · First published 1792 · Genre: Pastoral Poetry, Lyric Poetry, Scottish Vernacular Poetry · 118 words
First lines
As I was a-wand'ring ae morning in spring, / I heard a young ploughman sae sweetly to sing; / And as he was singin', thir words he did say,- / There's nae life like the ploughman's in the month o' sweet May.
The lav'rock in the morning she'll rise frae her nest, / And mount i' the air wi' the dew on her breast, / And wi' the merry ploughman she'll whistle and sing, / And at night she'll return to her nest back again.
1780
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Genres
- Pastoral Poetry — The poem idealizes rural agricultural life, presenting the ploughman's work, spring landscape, birdsong, and natural rhythms as harmonious and joyful.
- Lyric Poetry — Its brief, musical stanzas express a concentrated celebration of the ploughman's life through songlike language and recurring imagery.
- Scottish Vernacular Poetry — Burns writes in Scots dialect, using forms such as 'wand'ring,' 'lav'rock,' 'frae,' 'wi',' and 'nae' to root the poem in Scottish speech and culture.
- Folk Song — The poem's simple stanzaic structure, oral-song framing, repeated melodic phrasing, and rural subject matter resemble a traditional Scottish folk song.
Tags
Scottish poetry · Scots language · pastoral lyric · rural life · agricultural labor · ploughman · springtime · May · morning song · wandering speaker · first-person narration · countryside
What this Textopian page supports
The Ploughman's Life 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: Pastoral Poetry, Lyric Poetry, Scottish Vernacular Poetry, Folk Song, Nature Poetry
- Length: 118 words
- Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
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