Davie Gellatley's Song
Davie Gellatley's Song - meaning Summary
Youth Versus Age Contrasted
This short ballad contrasts youthful impulse with older constancy and latent danger. Each stanza compares a young man’s quick passions—love, anger, brawling—to the older man’s steadier, longer-lasting or more grave responses. A repeated question about a cheerful bird and the refrain about the throstle-cock sheltering its head tie the stanzas together, suggesting outward lightness versus concealed strength and menace in age.
Read Complete AnalysesYoung men will love thee more fair and more fast; Heard ye so merry the little bird sing? Old men's love the longest will last, And the throstle-cock's head is under his wing. The young man's wrath is like light straw on fire; Heard ye so merry the little bird sing? But like red-hot steel is the old man's ire, And the throstle-cock's head is under his wing. The young man will brawl at the evening board; Heard ye so merry the little bird sing? But the old man will draw at the dawning the sword, And the throstle-cock's head is under his wing.
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