Full Analysis (Scottish Highers English): Revision Notes

Full Analysis

Form and structure

'Composed in August' takes the form of a song with five verses, each containing eight lines. The rhyme scheme follows an ABABCDED pattern throughout. Burns structures each verse with a regular metre featuring four stressed syllables per line, creating what is known as '4-beat' verse. This rhythmic pattern works particularly well when set to music.

The song employs repetition in ways typical of lyric poetry. A refrain appears in both the opening verse (line 8) and closing verse (line 40), where the speaker's thoughts turn to 'my charmer'. This repeated phrase creates a frame around the poem's broader observations about nature, anchoring them to the speaker's personal feelings about his beloved.

Structural movement

The poem progresses through five distinct movements:

The opening verse establishes where and when the speaker is walking - on an August evening through rural Scotland. This scene prompts thoughts of his sweetheart. The second verse expands outward to describe native birds living in their natural surroundings. The third verse broadens further still, reflecting on the natural order and humanity's relationship with the wild world. In the fourth verse, the poem shifts from these darker reflections toward a more positive vision of the speaker and his beloved enjoying nature's beauty together. The final verse imagines a future where the lovers share these natural pleasures.

Lines 1-2

'Now westlin winds and slaught'ring guns / Bring Autumn's pleasant weather;'

Burns opens by establishing the poem's setting: a rural Scottish landscape during an August evening. Wind often symbolises change in literature, and the 'westlin winds' (westerly winds) signal the transitional moment between summer and autumn. Despite the 'pleasant weather', Burns creates immediate tension through contrast. Wind represents natural forces, whilst guns represent human intervention. This opposition between natural and man-made elements introduces a conflict between humanity and nature that develops throughout the poem.

Lines 3-4

'The moorcock springs on whirring wings / Amang the blooming heather:'

A moorcock (another name for red grouse) suddenly takes flight from heather bushes. Burns describes the bird through both movement and sound. The verb 'springs' conveys sudden, startled motion. Onomatopoeia in the phrase 'whirring wings' recreates the sound of rapidly beating wings.

Lines 4-6

'Now waving grain, wide o'er the plain, / Delights the weary farmer;'

The first verse continues building an idyllic rural picture. Extensive wheat fields move gently in the westerly breeze. Burns presents an idealised vision of agricultural life - even the farmer's weariness cannot diminish his pleasure at seeing successful crops. As a tenant farmer himself, Burns knew the harsh realities of farming life, yet here he chooses to present a romanticised image rather than a realistic one.

Lines 6-8

'And the moon shines bright, as I rove by night, / To muse upon my charmer.'

The speaker enters his own poem at this point. He wanders through the rural landscape by moonlight, and the romantic scenery leads him to think about the person he loves. The word 'muse' carries double meaning - it means to reflect or think deeply, but a muse is also traditionally a person (usually female) who inspires poetry.

Lines 9-16

'The paitrick loves the fruitful fells, / The plover loves the mountains; / The woodcock haunts the lonely dells, / The soaring hern the fountains: / Thro' lofty groves the cushat roves, / The path of man to shun it; / The hazel bush o'erhangs the thrush, / The spreading thorn the linnet.'

The second verse catalogues native birds: partridge, plover, woodcock, heron, wood pigeon, thrush and linnet (a small finch). Rather than simply listing birds, Burns matches each species with its preferred habitat. Herons, as water birds, favour 'fountains' (line 12). The woodcock inhabits 'lonely dells' (line 11), which accurately describes this bird's solitary nature. The cushat (wood pigeon) moves through 'lofty groves' of trees (line 13).

Burns uses Scots vocabulary for certain birds - 'paitrick' for partridge and 'cushat' for wood pigeon. This demonstrates the speaker's deep local knowledge. He knows these birds by their regional names and understands their behaviour patterns and habitats.

Lines 17-20

'Thus ev'ry kind their pleasure find, / The savage and the tender; / Some social join, and leagues combine, / Some solitary wander:'

Burns shifts from describing specific local birds to making universal observations about the natural order. Every creature finds its own pleasure (line 17) according to its own nature. Some creatures are social whilst others prefer solitude (lines 19-20).

The reference to creatures who 'solitary wander' may also describe the speaker himself - he walks alone at night through the countryside. What might his own pleasure be? The opening and closing verses suggest it relates to his beloved, Peggy.

Lines 21-24

'Avaunt, away, the cruel sway! / Tyrannic man's dominion;'

After acknowledging in line 18 that the 'savage' coexists with the 'tender', the poem turns to a form of human savagery. The speaker attempts to wish away the cruel actions of sportsmen that intrude upon his otherwise pleasant walk.

The idea of man's dominion has religious origins. Burns, who had a deeply religious upbringing, knew scripture well. Genesis 1:26 states: 'And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth'. Genesis 1:28 commands humanity to 'replenish the earth' and 'have dominion over' all living creatures.

However, rather than exercising a custodial dominion that replenishes the earth, the hunters in this poem diminish nature by killing birds purely for sport. These lines critique humanity's mastery over the natural world.

Lines 23-24

'The sportsman's joy, the murd'ring cry, / The flutt'ring, gory pinion!'

If every creature finds its own pleasure (line 17), some human pleasure proves particularly savage - the 'sportsman's joy' comes from shooting birds. Burns chooses the word 'murdering' rather than 'killing'. This word choice suggests either a capital crime in legal terms or a mortal sin in religious terms. Within the poem's context, it emphasises the speaker's condemnation of hunting.

Lines 25-32

'But, Peggy dear, the ev'ning's clear, / Thick flies the skimming swallow, / The sky is blue, the fields in view, / All fading – green and yellow: / Come let us stray our gladsome way, / And view the charms of Nature; / The rustling corn, the fruited thorn, / And ilka happy creature.'

In the previous verse, the speaker tried to wish 'away, the cruel sway' (line 20) of hunting. In this verse, he succeeds, turning instead to the 'charms of Nature' (line 29). He addresses his beloved, Peggy, drawing her attention to these natural beauties.

The evening is cloudless. Swallows fly 'thick' through the air, meaning in large groups. Swallows are migratory birds that gather each autumn before flying from Britain to warmer southern regions. The crops are changing colour as they ripen, 'fading' from 'green to yellow'. Plants are described through their qualities - 'rustling corn' and 'fruited thorn' - suggesting nature's abundance. Finally, 'ilka' (every) creature appears happy - a stark contrast to the wounded bird in the previous verse's closing line.

Lines 33-36

'We'll gently walk, and sweetly talk, / While the silent moon shine clearly; / I'll grasp thy waist, and, fondly prest, / Swear how I lo'e thee dearly:'

The final verse shifts from present moment to future possibility. This change is marked by the future tense: 'we'll gently walk'; 'I'll grasp thy waist'. The speaker imagines a future with Peggy where they walk together and share intimacy. The image of the moon shining clearly echoes line 7 from the opening verse, creating a circular structure.

Lines 36-40

'Not vernal show'rs to budding flow'rs, / Not Autumn to the farmer, / So dear can be as thou to me, / My fair, my lovely charmer!'

The song concludes with a declaration of love. Burns uses poetic apostrophe - a technique where the speaker addresses someone not actually present. This is signalled by the formal second person pronoun 'thou' (line 39).