Lyric Poem · Nature
The Charms of Lovely Davies
by Robert Burns
1O HOW shall I, unskilfu’, try
2 The poet’s occupation?
3The tunefu’ powers, in happy hours,
4 That whisper inspiration;
5Even they maun dare an effort mair
6 Than aught they ever gave us,
7Ere they rehearse, in equal verse,
8 The charms o’ lovely Davies.
9Each eye it cheers when she appears,
10 Like Phoebus in the morning,
11When past the shower, and every flower
12 The garden is adorning:
13As the wretch looks o’er Siberia’s shore,
14 When winter-bound the wave is;
15Sae droops our heart, when we maun part
16 Frae charming, lovely Davies.
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“The Charms of Lovely Davies” by Robert Burns — quilloak.com/poems/the-charms-of-lovely-davies
Quick facts
- Poem
- The Charms of Lovely Davies
- Poet
- Robert Burns
- Length
- 32 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem
- Themes
- Nature, Winter, Love
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
- 32 lines · 4 octaves
- End rhyme
- No regular perfect end rhyme. The poem may still be using slant rhyme, assonance, or internal echo, which this check does not score.
- Line length
- Lines run 7-9 syllables (median 8), consistent with tetrameter. No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.
- Refrain
- “The charms o’ lovely Davies.”Repeated lines act as the poem's hinge or drumbeat.
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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
- PoetryDBThe Charms of Lovely Davies 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 dc0bfde739099108…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.