Allan Water
written in 1793
Allan Water - meaning Summary
Courting Beside Allan Water
Set beside the Allan Water at dusk, the poem presents a speaker recalling a love encounter with Annie. Natural details — sinking sun, whispering winds, waving corn — frame a tender scene in which she leans on his breast and pledges herself. He remembers kisses and a vow of lasting attachment. The poem then contrasts seasonal joys and pastoral delights with the uniquely overwhelming pleasure of meeting his beloved, arguing that no spring, summer, or autumn sensation equals that intimate emotional summit. It reflects Burns’s recurring themes of romantic feeling and love of nature.
Read Complete AnalysesBy Allan-side I chanc'd to rove, While Phebus sank beyond Benledi; The winds were whispering thro' the grove, The yellow corn was waving ready: I listen'd to a lover's sang, And thought on youthfu' pleasures mony; And ay the wild-wood echoes rang O dearly do I lo'e thee, Annie. O happy be the woodbine bower, Nae nightly bogle make it eerie; Nor ever sorrow stain the hour, The place and time I met my Dearie! Her head upon my throbbing breast, She, sinking, said, 'I'm thine for ever!' While mony a kiss the seal imprest, The sacred vow, we ne'er should sever. The haunt o' Spring's the primrose-brae, The Simmer joys the flocks to follow; How cheery, thro' her shortening day, Is Autumn in her weeds o' yellow: But can they melt the glowing heart, Or chain the soul in speechless pleasure, Or thro' each nerve the rapture dart, Like meeting Her, our bosom's treasure.
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