Comin' Thro' the Rye [Alternate Version]
Comin' Thro' the Rye [Alternate Version] - meaning Summary
Sexual Freedom and Privacy
Burns' alternate version of "Comin' thro' the rye" describes casual sexual encounters in plain Scots voice and insists they need not provoke shame or public scandal. The speaker presents repeated vignettes—meeting in the rye, glen, grain, or alone—to argue that consensual sexual contact is a private matter and that social judgment is hypocritical. The poem balances earthy bluntness with a wry moral claim: sex between willing parties should not be grounds for crying out or communal knowledge, and many liaisons remain secretly accepted despite public reticence.
Read Complete AnalysesO gin a body meet a body, Comin' throu the rye: Gin a body fuck a body, Need a body cry. Comin' thro' the rye, my jo, An' coming' thro' the rye; She fand a staun o' staunin' graith, Comin' thro' the rye. Gin a body meet a body, Comin' thro' the glen; Gin a body fuck a body, Need the warld ken. Gin a body meet a body, Comin' thro the grain; Gin a body fuck a body, Cunt's a body's ain. Gin a body meet a body, By a body's sel, What na body fucks a body, Wad a body tell. Mony a body meets a body, They dare na weel avow; Mony a body fucks a body, Ye wadna think its true.
Feel free to be first to leave comment.