Lyric Poem · Life
Here’s his Health in Water
by Robert Burns
1ALTHO’ my back be at the wa’,
2 And tho’ he be the fautor;
3Altho’ my back be at the wa’,
4 Yet, here’s his health in water.
5O wae gae by his wanton sides,
6 Sae brawlie’s he could flatter;
7Till for his sake I’m slighted sair,
8 And dree the kintra clatter:
9But tho’ my back be at the wa’,
10 And tho’ he be the fautor;
11But tho’ my back be at the wa’,
12 Yet here’s his health in water!
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“Here’s his Health in Water” by Robert Burns — quilloak.com/poems/heres-his-health-in-water
Quick facts
- Poem
- Here’s his Health in Water
- Poet
- Robert Burns
- Length
- 12 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem
- Themes
- 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
- 12 lines · one 12-line stanza
- Line length
- Lines run 7-8 syllables (median 7). No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.
- Refrains
- “ALTHO’ my back be at the wa’,”“And tho’ he be the fautor;”“Altho’ my back be at the wa’,”Repeated lines act as the poem's hinge or drumbeat.
Want the rules this form is measured against? Read what makes a lyric poem, 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 committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- Robert Burns1759–1796
- Source record
- PoetryDBHere’s his Health in Water by robert-burns, PoetryDB transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- Not recorded in the imported source
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 2bbaa522fb93bb00…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.