StoryTitle("caps", "John Barleycorn") ?>
Barleycorn" is a favourite with boys because it pictures a
successful struggle. One editor has made a temperance poem of it, mistaking
its true intent. The poem is a strong expression of a plow-man's love for a
hardy, food-giving grain which has sprung to life through
his efforts. (1759-96.)
PoemStart() ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "There were three kings into the East,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Three kings both great and high;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And they ha'e sworn a solemn oath", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "John Barleycorn should die.", "") ?>
PagePoem(84, "L0", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "They took a plow and plowed him down,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Put clods upon his head;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And they ha'e sworn a solemn oath", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "John Barleycorn was dead.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "But the cheerful spring came kindly on,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And showers began to fall;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "John Barleycorn got up again,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And sore surprised them all.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "The sultry suns of summer came,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And he grew thick and strong;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "His head well arm'd wi' pointed spears,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "That no one should him wrong.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "The sober autumn entered mild,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And he grew wan and pale;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "His bending joints and drooping head", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Showed he began to fail.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "His colour sickened more and more,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "He faded into age;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And then his enemies began", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "To show their deadly rage.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "They took a weapon long and sharp,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And cut him by the knee,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Then tied him fast upon a cart,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Like a rogue for forgery.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "They laid him down upon his back,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And cudgelled him full sore;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "They hung him up before the storm,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And turn'd him o'er and o'er.", "") ?>
PagePoem(85, "L0", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "They filled up then a darksome pit", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "With water to the brim,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And heaved in poor John Barleycorn,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "To let him sink or swim.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "They laid him out upon the floor,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "To work him further woe;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And still as signs of life appeared,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "They tossed him to and fro.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "They wasted o'er a scorching flame", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "The marrow of his bones;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "But a miller used him worst of all—", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "He crushed him 'tween two stones.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And they have taken his very heart's blood,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And drunk it round and round;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And still the more and more they drank,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Their joy did more abound.", "") ?>
PoemAttribution("100", SmallCapsText("Robert Burns.")) ?>
PoemEnd() ?>