Ballad · Friendship
Auld Lang Syne (Wikisource)
by Robert Burns · 1788
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne ?
Chorus:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
And surely you’ll get your pint cup !
and surely I’ll get mine !
And we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
We two have run about the slopes,
and picked the daisies fine ;
But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,
since auld lang syne.
We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun ’till dine ;
But seas between us broad have roared
since auld lang syne.
And there’s a hand my trusty friend !
and give a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“Auld Lang Syne (Wikisource)” by Robert Burns — quilloak.com/poems/auld-lang-syne
Quick facts
- Poem
- Auld Lang Syne (Wikisource)
- Poet
- Robert Burns
- Published
- 1788
- Length
- 25 lines
- Form
- Ballad, Rhyming Poems
- Themes
- Friendship, Life
Craft notes
How this poem works
Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.
- Shape
- 25 lines · 4 stanzas of 4–13 lines
- Refrains
- “Should old acquaintance be forgot,”“for auld lang syne,”“for auld lang syne.”Repeated lines act as the poem's hinge or drumbeat.
Want the rules this form is measured against? Read what makes a ballad, or run your own draft through the form checker to see the same measurements on your lines. How we measure · Report a mistake
Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the cited edition and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- Robert Burns1759–1796
- Source record
- WikisourceAuld Lang Syne (Wikisource) by robert-burns, Wikisource transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- 1788
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 58fb666c9e6d1707…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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