Bessy and Her Spinning Wheel
written in 1792
Bessy and Her Spinning Wheel - fact Summary
Written in Scots Dialect
Robert Burns’s poem uses the Scots vernacular to celebrate modest rural contentment. It centers on Bessy and her spinning wheel, linking domestic work to sunlit landscape and small pleasures. The speaker favors steady, simple labor and the rhythms of nature over the noisy, ostentatious joys of the wealthy. Dated 1792 and typical of Burns’s pastoral lyrics, the poem highlights communal, seasonal life and an ethic of sufficiency. It is a clear example of how Burns blends local language with sympathetic portrayals of ordinary countryside existence.
Read Complete AnalysesO Leeze me on my spinnin-wheel, And leeze me on my rock and reel; Frae tap to tae that cleeds me bien, And haps me fiel and warm at e'en! I'll set me down and sing and spin, While laigh descends the simmer sun, Blest wi' content, and milk and meal, O leeze me on my spinnin' wheel. On ilka hand the burnies trot, And meet below my theekit cot; The scented birk and hawthorn white Across the pool their arms unite, Alike to screen the birdie's nest, And little fishes' callor rest: The sun blinks kindly in the biel' Where, blythe I turn my spinnin' wheel. On lofty aiks the cushats wail, And Echo cons the doolfu' tale; The lintwhites in the hazel braes, Delighted, rival ithers lays: The craik amang the claver hay, The pairtrick whirring o'er the ley, The swallow jinkin' round my shiel , Amuse me at my spinnin' wheel. Wi' sma' to sell, and less to buy, Aboon distress, below envy, O wha wad leave this humble state, For a' the pride of a' the Great? Amid their flairing, idle toys, Amid their cumbrous, dinsome joys, Can they the peace and pleasure feel Of Bessy at her spinnin' wheel!
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