Lyric Poem · Nature

Winter: A Dirge

by Robert Burns

Reading room

1THE WINTRY west extends his blast,

2 And hail and rain does blaw;

3Or the stormy north sends driving forth

4 The blinding sleet and snaw:

5While, tumbling brown, the burn comes down,

6 And roars frae bank to brae;

7And bird and beast in covert rest,

8 And pass the heartless day.

9“The sweeping blast, the sky o’ercast,”

10 The joyless winter day

11Let others fear, to me more dear

12 Than all the pride of May:

13The tempest’s howl, it soothes my soul,

14 My griefs it seems to join;

15The leafless trees my fancy please,

16 Their fate resembles mine!

17Thou Power Supreme, whose mighty scheme

18 These woes of mine fulfil,

19Here firm I rest; they must be best,

20 Because they are Thy will!

21Then all I want—O do Thou grant

22 This one request of mine!—

23Since to enjoy Thou dost deny,

24 Assist me to resign.

Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.

Tip: click any line number to copy a ready-made citation for that line.

“Winter: A Dirge” by Robert Burns — quilloak.com/poems/winter-a-dirge

Quick facts

Poem: Winter: A Dirge
Poet: Robert Burns
Length: 24 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: Nature, Winter, Sad

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: 24 lines · 3 octaves
Line length: Lines run 6-8 syllables (median 8), consistent with tetrameter. No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.

The poem’s silhouette — approximate syllables per line, measured from the text above. Even bars mean a measured line; ragged bars mean the poem sets its own widths.

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: PoetryDBWinter: A Dirge 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 79744211ea033811…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

Jurisdiction-specific, never a worldwide claimRights policy Report a text or rights issue

Lyric Poem Nature Winter Sad

Keep reading

She Walks in Beauty

Lord Byron · 1814

She walks in beauty, like the nightOf cloudless climes and starry skies;And all that's best of dark and bright

18 lines · lyric

Love's Philosophy

Percy Bysshe Shelley · 1819

The fountains mingle with the riverAnd the rivers with the ocean,The winds of heaven mix for ever

16 lines · lyric

When You Are Old

W. B. Yeats · 1893

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,And nodding by the fire, take down this book,And slowly read, and dream of the soft look

12 lines · lyric

More nature poems →