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Lyric Poem · War & Remembrance

Ye Jacobites by Name

by Robert Burns

1YE Jacobites by name, give an ear, give an ear,

2Ye Jacobites by name, give an ear,

3 Ye Jacobites by name,

4 Your fautes I will proclaim,

5Your doctrines I maun blame, you shall hear.

6What is Right, and What is Wrang, by the law, by the law?

7What is Right and what is Wrang by the law?

8 What is Right, and what is Wrang?

9 A short sword, and a lang,

10A weak arm and a strang, for to draw.

11What makes heroic strife, famed afar, famed afar?

12What makes heroic strife famed afar?

13 What makes heroic strife?

14 To whet th’ assassin’s knife,

15Or hunt a Parent’s life, wi’ bluidy war?

16Then let your schemes alone, in the state, in the state,

17Then let your schemes alone in the state.

18 Then let your schemes alone,

19 Adore the rising sun,

20And leave a man undone, to his fate.

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“Ye Jacobites by Name” by Robert Burns — quilloak.com/poems/ye-jacobites-by-name

Quick facts

Poem
Ye Jacobites by Name
Poet
Robert Burns
Length
20 lines
Form
Lyric Poem
Themes
War & Remembrance

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
20 lines · 4 quintains
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.

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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
PoetryDBYe Jacobites by Name 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 0fdf81c68bbcac8c…
Editorial handling
Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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Lyric PoemWar & Remembrance

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