Carl an the King Come
written in 1790
Carl an the King Come - context Summary
Written in 1790
Composed in 1790, Robert Burns’s "Carl an the king come" is a short Scots convivial song celebrating arrival, dancing and drinking. Its repeated refrains and simple narrative voice create a communal, call-and-response feel: the speaker invites another to dance while promising song, and jokes about swapped horses and getting drunk. The poem uses Scots dialect and folkloric idiom to evoke rural social life and public festivity rather than private reflection. As presented, it reads as a lyric meant for performance and shared amusement among friends or at a public gathering.
Read Complete AnalysesCarl an the king come, Carl an the king come; Thou shalt dance and I will sing, Carl and the king come. An somebodie were come again, Then somebodie maun cross the main, And every man shall hae his ain, Carl an the king come. Carl an the king come, Carl an the king come; Thou shalt dance and I will sing, Carl and the king come. I trow we swapped for the warse, We gae the boot and better horse; And that we'll tell them at the cross, Carl an the king come. Carl an the king come, Carl an the king come; Thou shalt dance and I will sing, Carl and the king come. Coggie an the king come, Coggie an the king come, I'se be fou and thou'se be toom, Coggie an the king come. Coggie an the king come, Coggie an the king come; Thou shalt dance and I will sing, Coggie and the king come.
Feel free to be first to leave comment.